Why The Pixel Is A Big Change For Google      

Google smartphones are not particularly new. The search-engine-turned-tech-giant has been experimenting for a long time with Nexus phones. However, Google’s approach to branded smartphone hardware was always tentative. Instead of a full-fledged approach to software and hardware, the company chose to partner with various existing players to bring out Nexus phones – these phones were to be made to Google’s specifications and had priority software updates.

But all that is history now. The Nexus brand has been discontinued in favour of the new Pixel line-up. What has changed? Gone are the days of co-branding partnerships with phone makers. Google will now be taking care of the entire lifecycle of Pixel phones. They will design, engineer, manage inventory, partner with telecom operators/carriers and even manage retail channel distribution.

It looks like Google has bought into the idea of offering a suite of hardware bundled with its proprietary software services. This marriage of cutting edge hardware with Google’s own services like its virtual assistant, augmented reality and other services are meant to ‘lock-in’ the users within the Google ecosystem. In effect, Google wants to imitate Apple’s success in being able to provide a complete suite of expensive hardware and software services. This explains the slew of launches we have seen from Google: Google WiFi, Daydream VR kit and Google Home (a smart speaker and a home assistant).

The risk involved here will run into hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions. A slew of new hardware launches, all of them designed and fully managed by Google, besides the marketing and operational expenses are all bound to be a big drain on Google’s coffers. But it looks like virtual reality, virtual assistants and closely tied hardware is where Google thinks the action is. Here’s to more interesting phones and virtual assistants, then!