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Google Mobile Devices

by Michael Gariffo

Copyright 2021, Faulkner Information
Services. All Rights Reserved.

Docid: 00021347

Publication Date: 2108

Report Type: PRODUCT

Preview

Up until about a decade ago Google was known solely as the world’s leading search provider.
Although the company had moved into the software market with its Chrome browser
and other offerings, its bread and butter remained Web search and associated
online advertising services. That all changed with the introduction of the
Android operating system. Despite a slow start following its 2008 launch,
Android has grown to not only surpass Apple’s iOS but to become the most
popular smartphone platform in the world.

Report Contents:

• Device History
• Related Faulkner Reports
• Vendor
• Device Comparison
• Sales and Market share
• The Future
• Summary
• Web Links

Device History

[return to top of this report]

Smartphones

Google’s first entry into the smartphone market, the G1, launched in October
2008 to modest sales. However, it wasn’t until January 2010 that Google would enter the
smartphone game to stay, releasing somewhat yearly updates since then. Although
the company’s brand name Nexus
devices usually sell in relatively small quantities compared to iPhones or even competing third-party Android devices, each unit has served to introduce new
technologies, high-end design, and the latest version of Android to the market.
To date, Google has released a total of six Nexus smartphones, each made by a
third-party mobile device manufacturer. 

Figure 1. Google G1

Source: Google

• Launch Date – October 22, 2008
• Launch Price – $129.99 on T-Mobile USA with new two-year contract,
  or $399.99 unlocked
• Features
  • Processor – 528 MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A ARM11 processor
  • Memory – 192 MB RAM
  • Display – 3.2-inch display with a resolution of 480×320 at 180
    PPI
  • Camera – 3.22 MP rear camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS
  • Power – 3.7 V 1150 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 1.6 (Donut)
  • Manufactured by – HTC (Codename: HTC DREAM)
• Dimensions and Weight – 117x56x17 mm or 4.63×2.19×0.67 inches
  with a weight of 5.6 oz.
• Description and Reception – Google’s mobile operating
  system launched for the first time in the US with the Google G1. Available
  only on T-Mobile and featuring what could best be described as a quirky
  design aesthetic, the device became a favorite of developers and the very
  tech savvy, but largely failed to catch on with the general public. This
  sales performance is not overly surprising when one considers the number
  of factors working against the device. It launched on the smallest of the
  major carriers at the time; it featured an unusual "chin" form factor,
  which included a bottom portion of the case that jutted out toward the
  user; and it ran a version of Android that bears almost no resemblance to
  what the OS would later become, featuring a user interface that was, at
  best, utilitarian in appearance. Despite all this, the G1 showed the
  potential of the fledgling platform and created a loyal and devoted
  following that would expand and go on to battle "Apple fanboys" to
  this day.

Figure 2. Google Nexus One

Source: Google

• Launch Date – January 5, 2010
• Launch Price – $179 on T-Mobile with a new two-year contract, or
  $529.99 unlocked
• Features
  • Processor – 1 GHz Qualcomm Scorpion
  • Memory – 512 MB RAM
  • Display – 3.7-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 800×480 at
    254 PPI; later replaced by a SuperLCD display with identical
    statistics
  • Camera – 5 MP rear camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS
  • Power – 1,400 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 2.1 (Eclair)
  • Manufactured by – HTC (Codename: HTC Passion)
• Dimensions and Weight – 119x60x11.5 mm or 4.7×2.35×0.45 inches
  with a weight of 4.6 oz.
• Description and Reception – Perhaps hurting from the
  mediocre success of its first offering, it would take Google nearly a year
  and a half before it re-entered the smartphone market. However, where the
  G1 entered the playing field as a complete unknown, the Nexus One launched
  as the new favorite. Devices from the likes of Samsung, Motorola, and
  lesser known manufacturers had been available for some time before the
  Nexus One’s launch. However, most of these devices suffered from poor
  craftsmanship, underpowered processors, and questionable performance. To
  combat Android’s quickly deteriorating reputation, Google teamed with HTC
  to design a device that would have more than enough power to run the
  just-released Android 2.1 and could arguably stand toe-to-toe with
  Apple’s flagship offering at the time. The result was a more
  marketable device and one that showed much improved consumer adoption. The Nexus One’s familiar form factor, speedy performance, and
  enhanced capabilities (thanks to the update to Android 2.1) resulted in
  something that was beginning to near the capabilities of today’s smartphones. Sales for the model remained relatively modest when compared
  to the iPhone or the likes of the original Motorola Droid, but the
  limiting factor in this case was widely thought to be the device’s placement
  with the T-Mobile carrier rather than any weakness in the hardware itself.

Figure 3. Google Nexus S

Source: Google

• Launch Date – December 22, 2010
• Launch Price – $199 on T-Mobile USA with new two-year contract, or
  $529 unlocked
• Features
  • Processor – 1 GHz single-core ARM Cortex-A8
  • Memory – 512 MB RAM
  • Display – 4-inch Super Amoled display with a resolution of 800×480 at
    233 PPI
  • Camera – 5 MP rear camera and VGA-quality front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS, 3G data, NFC
  • Power – 1,500 mA·h lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 2.3 (Gingerbread)
  • Manufactured by – Samsung
• Dimensions and Weight – 124x63x11 mm or 4.9×2.5×0.43 inches
  with a weight of 4.9 oz.

• Description and Reception – If the Nexus One was where
  Google launched its modern smartphone lineup, the Nexus S is where it found
  its groove. Unlike the company’s first two handsets, this unit was
  manufactured by Samsung. Although the details of this decision were never
  really made public, it seems likely that Google chose to switch manufacturers
  in order to have more control over the phone’s design. Whereas the G1 and
  Nexus One were heavily modified versions of existing or simultaneously
  released HTC handsets, the Nexus S was collaboratively designed from the
  ground up by Google and Samsung. This level of control allowed Google to place
  the phone well ahead of the curve and to give it new capabilities such as a
  front-facing camera (still a very rare feature at the time) and NFC
  (near-field communication) compatibility. Although NFC still hasn’t truly
  caught on even today, Google showed with the Nexus S that it intended its
  subsequent devices to serve as a sort of peek into the future of Android
  handsets and would always launch them with the most cutting edge features it
  could manage. Like its previous models, the Nexus S showed modest sales
  numbers, although it was during this period that Android
  started to look like a true competitor for iOS and began its quick rise to the
  top in platform market share.

Figure 4. Google Galaxy Nexus

Source: Google

• Launch Date – November 17, 2011
• Launch Price – $299 on Verizon with a new two-year contract, or
  $529 unlocked
• Features
  • Processor – 1.2 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex-A9
  • Memory – 1 GB RAM
  • Display – 4.65-inch Super AMOLED with a resolution of 1280×720 at
    316 PPI
  • Camera – 5 MP rear camera capable of 1080p video recording at 30
    frames per second and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS, 3G data, NFC, LTE
    (Verizon and Sprint versions)
  • Power – 1,750 mAh (HSPA+ version) | 1,850 mAh (LTE
    version)
  • Android Launch Version – 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Dimensions and Weight – 136x68x9 mm or 5.3×2.7×0.35 inches
  with a weight of 4.8 oz.
• description and Reception – The Galaxy Nexus was the model
  that ushered Android into its modern era. The device launched as the first
  handset anywhere with Android 4.0 on board and remained the only device to
  carry it in the US for more than a month. The jump in performance,
  aesthetics, and capability was immediately obvious to reviewers and
  consumers alike. The device’s near "retina-quality" screen looked just as good
  as the iPhone 4 or 4S, and its processing power let it display the
  same level of advanced graphics as Apple’s latter model. Perhaps most
  importantly for Google, this was the first generation of the phone that was
  available on US mobile carriers besides T-Mobile. The device launched with
  Verizon Wireless, the largest carrier in the country at the time, and would
  later be available on Sprint as well as from Google’s old favorite T-Mobile. Although
  the diversity of carriers went a long way towards exposing customers to
  Google’s first-party designs, it didn’t give the company the sales boost
  many were expecting. The Galaxy Nexus was the best selling Google
  device to date, but it still didn’t have the same legs as competitors such as
  Apple’s ever present iPhone line or even Samsung’s own Android device, the
  Galaxy S II. This was due to a combination of factors, not the least of
  which was Google’s decision to price the device at nearly $300 on contract.
  This was $100 more than a new 16GB iPhone and often three times as much as
  competing Android handsets, including the Galaxy S II. To make matters worse,
  the Galaxy Nexus was only available from Google’s own Web store for most of
  its life and would go largely unnoticed if a smartphone shopper chose
  to simply browse in-store devices. Despite its weaknesses,
  the Galaxy Nexus ushered in the 4.0 era of Android, the version that would
  push Google past RIM’s BlackBerry OS and Apple’s iOS to become the single
  most popular mobile platform on the planet.

Figure 5. Google Nexus 4

Source: Google

• Launch Date – November 13, 2012
• Launch Price – $199 on T-Mobile with a new two-year agreement, or
  $299 unlocked
• Features
  • Processor – 1.5 GHz quad-core Krait
  • Memory – 2 GB RAM
  • Display – 4.7-inch IPS display with a resolution
    of 1280×768 at 320 PPI
  • Camera – 8 MP rear camera capable of 1080p video recording at 30
    frames per second and a 1.3 MP front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , 3G data, NFC
  • Power – 2,100 mA·h lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
  • Manufactured by – LG
• Description and Reception – The Nexus 4 was somewhat of an
  odd generation for Google and at first was considered by some to be a step back. First, Google went back to offering the Nexus 4 exclusively through T-Mobile in the US as far
  as subsidized pricing goes. This was thought to be a strange reversal,
  but, as stated above, the carrier diversity of the Galaxy Nexus did the
  handset’s sales numbers little good. What Google did to counteract this
  narrow carrier availability was drop the unlocked price of the device to
  $299. This is a price point consumers often pay for new device with two-year
  contracts tacked on. Google offered the Nexus 4 for this
  amount with no contracts, no carrier lock-ins, and completely unlocked. This
  meant that, in the US, users could port the Nexus 4 to
  AT&T, T-Mobile, or a variety of regional and lesser known carriers. What
  they didn’t have when they activated their phone, however, was LTE
  connectivity. Despite the device’s predecessor having LTE capabilities on the
  Sprint and Verizon versions, the new LG-made handset only supported HSPA+, a
  wireless protocol that maxes out at 42Mbps – less than half of what most LTE
  networks are capable of. It is not entirely clear why Google made this
  decision, although a popular theory was that it was left out due to the
  relative lack of LTE availability on GSM-based networks in the US at the time. Despite this apparent shortcoming, the initial batch of Nexus 4
  devices sold out within hours of launch on Google’s own Web store and quickly
  repeated the feat when T-Mobile made its own supply available. This
  early success still did not put Google’s devices on par
  with the likes of Samsung and Apple. However, it did predict continued strong
  sales throughout the lifetime of the device and laid the groundwork for
  Google to continue offering unlocked handsets at discount prices. 

Figure 6. Google Nexus 5

Source: Google

• Launch Date – October 31, 2013
• Launch Price – $349 unlocked with compatible models for AT&T,
  Sprint, and T-Mobile
• Features
  • Processor – 2.28 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
  • Memory – 2 GB RAM
  • Display – 4.95-inch IPS display with a resolution
    of 1080×1920 at 445 PPI
  • Camera – 8 MP rear camera capable of 1080p video recording and a 1.3
    MP front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , 4G data, NFC
  • Power – 2,300 mA·h lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 4.4 (KitKat)
  • Manufactured by – LG
• Description and Reception – Although Google had great
  success with its previous generations of Nexus smartphones, none of them were
  exactly top of the line. In fact, at the time they debuted, all previous Nexus
  devices featured internal components that were decidedly middle-of-the-road.
  This allowed the company to offer the phones at affordable prices, even
  without a carrier subsidy, and had little detrimental effect on their
  performance thanks to Google’s ability to optimize its own operating system to
  handle the hardware. However, with devices like Samsung’s Galaxy S
  Line and LG’s G line hitting record sales, Google decided it was time to
  attack the current leaders of Android smartphone sales with its own top-of-the-line model. To this end, Google once again teamed up with LG to put out its
  first model that was capable of competing on an even footing with the best its
  competitors had to offer. In contrast to its previous efforts,
  Google chose to equip the Nexus 5 with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip
  used in the most recent flagship offerings from Samsung, LG, and HTC. Where
  previous Nexus handsets had been almost a full generation behind in processing
  power, screen resolution, and other features, the Nexus 5 met or exceeded the
  best statistics its competitors had. However, the most important
  aspect of the Nexus 5’s release may have been its price. Despite
  the boost in features, the latest smartphone from Google
  launched at just $349 without a carrier subsidy. This is just $49 more than the
  average starting price for a new phablet model at the time and around $300 less
  than someone would pay for a new, unlocked iPhone. Although the Nexus 5 had
  just barely begun reaching the lucky few consumers that managed to get their
  hands on one before the first wave of devices sold out, the company had its biggest hit yet on its hands. Despite a few early complaints
  about camera performance,
  the Nexus 5 garnered widespread praise from the tech press and
  public across social media and the blogosphere.

Figure 7. Google Nexus 6

Source: Google

• Launch Date – October 15, 2014
• Launch Price – $649 unlocked from Google. Varying pricing schemes
  for each of the four major characters.
• Features
  • Processor – 2.7 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805
  • Memory – 3 GB RAM
  • Display – 5.96-inch IPS display with a resolution
    of 2560×1440 at 493 PPI
  • Camera – 13 MP rear camera with ring flash and a 2 MP front-facing
    camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , 4G data, NFC
  • Power – 3,220 mA·h lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 5 (Lollipop)
  • Manufactured by – Motorola
• Description and Reception – With the surging popularity of
  the Samsung Galaxy Note line and the ever-growing screen sizes of other
  flagship Android handsets, Google decided to follow the flow of the market and
  release their own phablet-sized model as the next Nexus smartphone. The Nexus
  6 was by far the largest Google-branded handset yet, with a
  display coming in at just under six inches and featuring a QuadHD resolution.
  Although this model gave Google its first entry into the phablet category, it
  did not do much to advance performance over the company’s previous model, the
  Nexus 5. While featuring an extra gigabyte of RAM and an upgraded Snapdragon
  805 CPU, early performance tests actually showed the Nexus 6 to be slightly
  slower than its predecessor. Despite the drop in speed, the unit was an
  immediate success selling out within minutes of its Google Play launch and
  remaining difficult to obtain for some time thereafter. Interestingly, this
  generation saw Google once again allying with all four major wireless
  carriers. For the first time, a Nexus handset was made available by all carriers with pricing being decided by the carriers themselves. Although this
  was great news for subscribers that may have been left out in the cold by
  previous carrier-specific Nexus launches, it did bring with it some drawbacks. Chief among these was the fact that Google changed its usual zero
  tolerance policy for alterations to its handsets, allowing the placement of
  logos and carrier-branded, pre-installed software on versions of
  the handsets sold by the mobile network providers. 

Figure 8. Google Nexus 5X

Source: Google

• Launch Date – September 29, 2015
• Launch Price – $379 (16GB) $429 (32GB) unlocked from Google
• Features
  • Processor – 1.8 GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808
  • Memory – 2 GB RAM
  • Display – 5.2-inch IPS display with a resolution
    of 1920×1080 at 432 PPI
  • Camera – 12.3 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and a 5 MP
    front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC
  • Power – 2,700 mA·h lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 6 (Marshmallow)
  • Manufactured by – LG
• Description and Reception – With almost two years gone by
  since the release of the Nexus 5, Nexus
  device fans who preferred a smaller handset were beginning to get frustrated
  at the lack of an update. Google heard their gripes and launched
  the 5X with a mid-sized 5.2-inch display and a low price point for a
  completely unlocked device. Despite it’s mid-range size and affordable
  pricing, the Nexus 5X was by no means underpowered. Its Snapdragon 808 CPU was
  still very much top of the line at launch, and, although it didn’t quite match
  the previous year’s Nexus 6 in performance, it could keep up with similarly
  sized flagships from just about any other phone manufacturer. The Nexus 5X
  also marked a return to Google exclusively selling its device through its own
  sales channels. With no carrier-specific version of the device, the only
  source for Nexus 5X was the company’s own Google Store, where it offers
  all of its smartphones, tablets, and other consumer electronics. Despite the
  limited scope of availability, the Nexus 5X was another hit at launch, quickly
  selling out and causing the company to struggle to keep up with demand. The
  sales figures for the Nexus 5X show that, although increasingly large phones
  were still the market sweethearts at the time, there was still a very large
  demographic among shoppers who prefer a more easily handled,
  smaller device. 

Figure 9. Google Nexus 6P

Source: Google

• Launch Date – September 29, 2015
• Launch Price – $499 (32GB) $549 (64GB) $649 (128GB) unlocked from Google
• Features
  • Processor – 2.0 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 v2.1
  • Memory – 3 GB RAM
  • Display – 5.7-inch IPS display with a resolution
    of 2560×1440 at 518 PPI
  • Camera – 12.3 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and an 8 MP
    front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC
  • Power – 3,450 mA·h lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 6 (Marshmallow)
  • Manufactured by – Huawei
• Description and Reception – The Nexus 6P launched with a couple of
  strikes against it. First, it was running a version of the somewhat infamous
  Qualcomm Snapgragon 810, a CPU that had already earned a reputation for being
  problematic in the HTC One M9, with issues ranging from overheating to
  excessive battery drain. Thankfully, Google’s device sported an updated
  version 2.1 of the processing core, which alleviated most if not all of the
  difficulties seen in earlier versions. This issue, however, was
  largely secondary to the fact that Google, in a somewhat surprising move,
  chose Huawei to manufacture this generation of the Nexus line. Although Huawei
  is very much a household name in China and much of Asia, it is still a
  relatively unknown company in the West with nowhere near the reputation
  behind it that can be claimed by the likes of LG, Motorola, and the other
  companies Google had previously teamed with to produce Nexus devices. Nonetheless, Google and Huawei’s creation quickly became a hit among reviewers and
  consumers alike. As with most Nexus launches by this point, the device quickly
  sold out and remained so on an intermittent basis for several weeks.
  Meanwhile, reviewers lauded its metal and glass outer enclosure, high-end
  build quality, and very fast fingerprint reader. Even those that had concerns
  over the fact that Google chose to go with a slightly smaller display than the
  one seen in the previous year’s Nexus 6 generally came to admit that the more pleasant
  to handle device was a move in the right direction. 

Figure 10. Google Pixel and Pixel XL in Three Colors

Source: Google

• Launch Date – October 20, 2016
• Launch Price –
  • Pixel – $649 (32GB) or $749 (64GB)
  • Pixel XL – $769 (32 GB) or $869 (64GB)
• Features
  • Processor – 2.15 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
  • Memory – 4 GB RAM
  • Display –
    • Pixel – 5-inch AMOLED Display with a resolution of 1080×1920 at
      441 PPI
    • Pixel XL – 5.5-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of
      1440×2560 at 534 PPI
  • Camera – 12.3 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and an 8 MP
    front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC
  • Power –
    • Pixel – 2,770 mAh
    • Pixel XL – 3,450 mAh
  • Android Launch Version – 7 (Nougat)
  • Manufactured by – HTC (Google used HTC as a contract manufacturer on
    the Pixels, with absolutely no HTC branding present on it)
• Description and Reception – Many industry insiders saw the launch of
  the Pixel line and the replacement of the Nexus line as Google having reached
  maturity as a smartphone maker. For the first time, rather than collaborating
  with a third-party device maker, Google decided to strike out on its own and
  create a completely new device from the ground up. Although it had taken a
  strong hand in the design of most Nexus handsets, this was the first
  time a smartphone was created entirely in-house – and the first time it would
  launch with absolutely no third-party branding (despite still being
  manufactured by long-time Google ally HTC). Google chose to make its first
  "solo" foray into the smartphone market a decidedly high-end affair
  with all metal and glass construction used to shape the Pixel and Pixel XL’s smooth outer shell. The comparisons to Apple’s iPhone were immediate and
  may not have been entirely unwelcome by Google. This was due to the fact that
  the company strongly hinted at seeing the Pixel as a new beginning for what a
  premium Android handset could be, holding it up as a monolithic example of
  what an OS maker could accomplish when creating a device for its own operating
  system. As for the Pixel itself, it was very well received, showing the usual
  tendency of a Google mobile device to sell out, despite a price point that was
  every bit as expensive as its competing iPhone counterparts. This may have
  been helped along by the fact that the Pixels were the first Google
  smartphones to support Daydream, the company’s virtual reality platform. Like
  Samsung’s Gear VR, the Daydream view allowed compatible handsets to be
  inserted into a relatively inexpensive headset to be used as a VR platform,
  complete with an included motion controller. Although Google did open the
  platform to third-party device makers, the Pixel and Pixel XL spent a
  significant amount of time on the market as the only units available with the
  Daydream certification.

Figure 11. Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL

Source: Google

• Launch Date – October 19, 2017
• Launch Price –
  • Pixel 2- $649 (64GB) or $749 (128GB)
  • Pixel 2 XL – $849 (64GB) or $949 (128GB)
• Features
  • Processor – 2.45 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835
  • Memory – 4 GB RAM
  • Display –
    • Pixel 2 – 5-inch OLED Display with a resolution of 1080×1920 at
      441 PPI
    • Pixel 2 XL – 6-inch OLED display with a resolution of
      2880×1440 at 538 PPI
  • Camera – 12.3 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and laser
    auto-focus with an 8 MP
    front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC
  • Power –
    • Pixel 2 – 2,700 mAh
    • Pixel XL 2 – 3,520 mAh
  • Android Launch Version – 8 (Oreo)
  • Manufactured by – HTC (Pixel 2) and LG (Pixel 2 XL)
• Description and Reception – Following the launch of its
  highly successful initial entry in the Pixel line, Google followed it up with a
  revamped, albeit relatively safe choice. The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL largely
  followed the same design philosophy as their predecessors, with the only notable
  difference being the significant reduction in bezels on the larger of the two
  models. This put the phone in direct competition with contemporaries like the
  Galaxy S8 Plus and iPhone X. Meanwhile, both devices received the exact same
  internal components and cameras. The cameras were something of a focus of this
  generation, with Google touting industry benchmarks at the launch event which it
  claimed to prove the superiority of the included shooter when stacked up against
  any other smartphone camera on the market. Initial reviews and reaction to both
  devices were generally positive, with the only widespread complaint being the
  somewhat dated look the Pixel 2 had due to its retention of rather large bezels.
  However, shortly after launch, complaints began to emerge about the display of
  the Pixel 2 XL having issues with screen burn and a lack of color saturation.
  Google quickly released a patch to address both of these problems, but did not
  admit any actual issues with the screen. Instead, the company pointed to the
  nature of OLED screens, and the fact that they can be prone to certain
  weaknesses that competing technologies, such as LED, do not have.

Figure 12. The Google Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 3

Source: Google

• Launch Date – October 18, 2018
• Launch Price –
  • Pixel 3- $799 (64GB) or $899 (128GB)
  • Pixel 3 XL – $899 (64GB) or $999 (128GB)
• Features
  • Processor – 2.5 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
  • Memory – 4 GB RAM
  • Display –
    • Pixel 3 – 5.5-inch OLED Display with a resolution of 2160×1080
      at 443 PPI
    • Pixel 3 XL – 6.3-inch OLED display with a resolution of
      2960×1440 at 523 PPI
  • Camera – 12.2 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and laser
    auto-focus with an 8 MP
    front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC
  • Power –
    • Pixel 3 – 2,915 mAh
    • Pixel 3 XL – 3,430 mAh
  • Android Launch Version – 9 (Pie)
  • Manufactured by – Foxconn
• Description and Reception – After being panned for what
  some saw as the dated look of the Pixel 2 family of smartphones, Google chose to
  design the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL to align with the latest smartphone
  trends at the time of their release. In the case of the Pixel 3 XL, this meant
  the inclusion of a now-familiar "notch." This feature began with the iPhone X in
  the previous year but quickly spread across the Android landscape due to its
  ability to allow manufacturers to extend the front display nearer to
  the smartphone’s edges while still retaining a space for a front-facing camera
  and other sensors. This design philosophy did not sit well with some, with
  complaints aimed at the Pixel 3 line; many of the complaints focused on Google lacking the innovation
  it once showed and instead choosing to be a follower. Internally, the Pixel 3
  and 3 XL components were once again near the top of the line for smartphones at
  the time, with specs that would have been hard to beat by their contemporaries.
  However, this high-end hardware came at a cost, with the Pixel line by now
  abandoning any claim to being a "budget" option. In
  fact, the top end configuration of the Pixel 3 XL very nearly exceeded the
  all-important $1,000 milestone for smartphone costs that Apple had so famously
  shattered the year before.

Figure 13. The Google Pixel 4 XL and Pixel 4

Source: Google

• Launch Date – October 24, 2019
• Launch Price –
  • Pixel 4- $799 (64GB) or $899 (128GB)
  • Pixel 4 XL – $899 (64GB) or $999 (128GB)
• Features
  • Processor – 2.5 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855
  • Memory – 6 GB RAM
  • Display –
    • Pixel 4 – 5.7-inch OLED Display with a resolution of 2280×1080
      at 444 PPI
    • Pixel 4 XL – 6.3-inch OLED display with a resolution of
      3040×1440 at 537 PPI
  • Cameras – 12.2 MP standard camera with 16 MP telephoto camera. Dual-LED flash, laser
    auto-focus, and time of flight sensor. 8 MP
    front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC
  • Power –
    • Pixel 4 – 2,800 mAh
    • Pixel 4 XL – 3,700 mAh
  • Android Launch Version – 10
• Description and Reception – Google followed Apple in a
  way it would probably have preferred to avoid with the release of the Pixel
  4 line of smartphones: it earned a reputation for sitting on its laurels.
  The company’s line of Android handsets had, by this time, remained
  relatively unchanged in their overall designs for multiple generations.
  This, combined with the larger-than-competing bezels seen on the fourth
  pixel, particularly its smaller variant, led the Pixel 4 and 4 XL to already
  seem dated by the time they launched. That is not to say that the devices
  did not earn significant praise. Reviewers held the camera arrays in both
  units up as the "ones to beat" for many months following the launch, and the
  low light performance of the Pixel 4’s astrophotography modes went unmatched
  for far longer. All in all, the Pixel 4 was far from a failure, but it was
  not considered to be the success it could have been by many.

Figure 14. The Google Pixel 4a

Source: Google

• Launch Date – August 20, 2020
• Launch Price –
  • Pixel 4a- $349 (128GB)
  • Pixel 4 (5G) – $499 (128GB)
• Features
  • Processor –
    •  Pixel 4a –  2.2 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon
      730G
    • Pixel 4a (5G) – 2.2 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
  • Memory – 6 GB RAM
  • Display –
    • Pixel 4a – 5.8-inch OLED Display with a resolution of 2340×1080
      at 443 PPI
    • Pixel 4 (5G) – 6.2-inch OLED display with a resolution of
      2340×1080 at 413 PPI
  • Cameras – 12.2 MP standard camera with 16 MP telephoto camera. Dual-LED flash, laser
    auto-focus, and time of flight sensor. 8 MP
    front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC, 5G in 4a (5G)
    variant
  • Power –
    • Pixel 4a – 3,140 mAh
    • Pixel 4a (5G) – 3,885 mAh
  • Android Launch Version –
    • Pixel 4a – Android 10
    • Pixel 4a (5G) – Android 11
• Description and Reception – Google's successful launch
  of mid-cycle, budget-friendly smartphones continued with the debut of the
  Pixel 4. Starting at just $350, the phone offered nearly all of the same
  hardware as the Pixel 5 that would follow it, with that race tightening even
  more following the debut of the unit's 5G variant. Reviewers praised the
  unit for providing flagship-quality components at a price usually reserved
  for the types of smartphones geared more towards developing markets with
  lower standards for performance.

 

Figure 15. The Google Pixel 5

Source: Google

• Launch Date – October 15, 2020
• Launch Price – $699 (128GB)
• Features
  • Processor – 2.4 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
  • Memory – 8 GB RAM
  • Display –
    6-inch OLED Display with a resolution of 2340×1080 at 432 PPI
  • Cameras – 12.2 MP standard camera with 16 MP telephoto camera. Dual-LED flash, laser
    auto-focus, and time of flight sensor. 8 MP
    front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC, 5G
  • Power –
    4,080 mAh
  • Android Launch Version – 11
• Description and Reception –  The Pixel 5 may have
  been Google's most iterative phone ever. It shipped with essentially the
  same camera array as its direct predecessor, the Pixel 4, included an
  unusually mid-rangish CPU, and, for the first time in many years, did not
  come in an XL variant. The device received a largely tepid response from
  reviewers and the general public alike thanks to its middle-of-the-road
  stats and features. This lack of innovation may have played a part in
  Google's decision to undertake a complete device revamp the following year
  with the launch of its Pixel 6 lineup in 2021.

Figure 16. The Google Pixel 5a

Source: Google

• Launch Date – August 17, 2021
• Launch Price – $449 (128GB)
• Features
  • Processor – 2.4 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 765G
  • Memory – 8 GB RAM
  • Display –
    6.34-inch OLED Display with a resolution of 2400×1080 at 445 PPI
  • Cameras – 12.2 MP standard camera with 16 MP telephoto camera. Dual-LED flash, laser
    auto-focus, and time of flight sensor. 8 MP
    front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC, 5G
  • Power –
    4,620 mAh
  • Android Launch Version – 11
• Description and Reception –  The Pixel 5a is very
  nearly a clone of the Pixel 4a (5G), with only its display and battery
  showing any real divergence. For this display, a
  slightly higher vertical resolution maintains the pixel density across the
  extra third of an inch or so of screen real estate. The battery also gained
  another nearly 600 mAh to support the increased power draw for that extra
  space. Otherwise, the device generally represents another budget-minded
  (though not quite so much as the previous year's) entry into Google's smartphone
  lineup with very little to differentiate it from its predecessors or other
  mid-range competitors.

Figure 17. The Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro

Source: Google

• Launch Date – Fall 2021
• Launch Price –
  • Pixel 6 – Unknown (128GB and 256GB variants)
  • Pixel 6 Pro – Unknown (128GB, 256GB, and 512GB variants)
• Features (rumored)
  • Processor – Google Tensor CPU
  • Memory –
    • Pixel 6 – 8GB RAM
    • Pixel 6 Pro – 12GB RAM
  • Display –
    • Pixel 6 – 6.4-inch OLED with a resolution of 2220×1080 at
      385 PPI
    • Pixel 6 Pro – 6.7-inch OLED with a resolution of 3200×1800 548
      PPI
  • Cameras –
    • Pixel 6 – 50 MP wide-angle camera with 12 MP ultrawide camera. 8 MP
      front-facing camera
• Pixel 6 Pro – 50 MP wide-angle camera with 12 MP ultrawide
  camera and 48MP telephoto zoom lens. 8 MP front-facing camera.
• Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS , LTE, NFC, 5G
• Power –
  • Pixel 6 – 4,614 mAh
  • Pixel 6 Pro – 5,000 mAh
• Android Launch Version – 12
• Description and Reception –  The Pixel 6
  represents something of an attempt at a comeback for Google. At this point,
  the company had spent the past several years releasing extremely iterative
  phones, some of which had essentially the same hardware for multiple
  generations. With the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro (still pre-release at the time of
  writing), Google was clearly attempting to provide the kind of revamped,
  high-end smartphone that fans of its products had been clamoring for since
  the Pixel 4. Unique features of the device include its full-width camera
  bar, a (finally) updated camera array with vastly superior resolutions, and
  its upgraded metal and glass material choices. However, the most significant
  inclusion within the device, from a technical standpoint, is Google's
  in-house Tensor chip. This chip could, potentially at least, give Google the
  kind of edge seen in devices like Apple's M1 Mac lineup, allowing it to fully
  optimize both its hardware and software for each other, rather than trying
  to adapt to third-party offerings from Qualcomm, as it had for many, many
  years. As the device is still months away from release at the time of writing, pricing
  remains unknown as does the public reaction to Google's attempted return to
  the top end of the smartphone market.

Tablets

Figure 18. Google Nexus 7

Source: Google

• Launch Date – July 13, 2012
• Launch Price –
  • Wi-Fi Only: $249 (16GB) $300 (32GB) 
  • Wi-Fi+HSDPA/EDGE $249 (32GB) 
• Features
  • System-on-Chip – Nvidia Tegra 3
  • Memory – 1 GB RAM
  • Display – 7-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1280×800 at 216 PPI
  • Camera – 1.2 MP front-facing camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/UMTS, NFC
  • Power – 4,325 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
  • Manufactured by – Asus
• Description and Reception – Similar to the company’s
  practice for its mobile phone offerings, Google chose to enlist the aid of an
  experienced manufacturer when it first got into the tablet marketplace. The company
  allied with Asus and collaboratively developed the Nexus 7.
  Google’s first tablet launched at an opportune time for the company. Amazon’s
  Kindle Fire had already proven that the 7-inch form factor, famously called too
  small by the late Steve Jobs, was actually viable. However, the Kindle
  Fire, despite its other uses, was still thought of largely as a media
  consumption tablet. Google’s Nexus 7, on the other hand, was a full fledged
  slate with all of the capabilities of an iPad or Asus Transformer. This
  unique advantage, combined with Google’s well-known branding, gave the device a
  head start right out of the gate. However, it was most likely the unit’s price drop that really gave it an early boost in the tablet market.
  Less than six months after its initial release, 16GB version of the Nexus 7
  was available for $199. That put a device that is arguably just as capable
  as the iPad at a price point $300 lower, with three inches of screen real estate
  being the only tangible sacrifice. Predictably, the price drop caused a
  near instant sellout of the Nexus 7, a trend that has continued on and off as
  the device’s sales remain very strong.

Figure 19. Google Nexus 10

Source: Google

• Launch Date – November 13, 2012
• Launch Price –
  • Wi-Fi Only: $399 (16GB) $499 (32GB)
• Features
  • System-on-Chip – Samsung Exynos 5250
  • Memory – 2 GB RAM
  • Display – 10.06-inch LCD with a resolution of 2560×1600 at 299 PPI
  • Camera – rear-facing 5MP camera capable of 720p video recording with
    1.9 MP front-facing camera for video chat
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
  • Power – 9,000 mAH lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
  • Manufactured by – Samsung
• Description and Reception – Once again, Google mirrored
  its smartphone practices in its tablet strategy by switching manufacturers
  from Asus, who provided the Nexus 7, to Samsung for the Nexus 10. The company’s
  success in the 7-inch tablet market gave it enough confidence to go after
  Apple on the home turf of its original, 10-inch iPad. Google knew that it
  would need a cutting edge device to compete with the iPad juggernaut and it
  delivered with a higher resolution screen than the iPad’s, an (arguably) more
  powerful processor, twice the RAM, and, perhaps most importantly, a price
  point $100 lower than Apple’s entry level iPad.

Figure 20. Google Nexus 7 (2013)

Source: Google

• Launch Date – July 26, 2013
• Launch Price –
  • Wi-Fi Only: $229 (16GB) $269 (32GB)
  • Wi-Fi+LTE: $349 (32GB) 
• Features
  • System-on-Chip – Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro
  • Memory – 2 GB RAM
  • Display – 7-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1920×1200 at 323 PPI
  • Camera – 1.2 MP front-facing camera with a 5MP rear camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE, NFC
  • Power – 3,950 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 4.3 (Jelly Bean)
  • Manufactured by – Asus
• Description and Reception – Like Google’s Nexus 5
  smartphone, the Nexus 7 tablet was obviously designed to take on the best the
  competition had to offer at the time of its release. The 2013 edition of
  Google’s smaller slate leapfrogged its predecessor and most of the 7-inch
  tablet market with its new 1920×1200 display, Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, LTE
  option, and doubled RAM. Despite only being separated from the first
  generation Nexus 7 by a single year, the second iteration is a vastly superior
  device. Despite the upgrade, Google actually chose to drop its launch price by
  $20, rather than raising its due to the increased specs. This decision, which
  is completely opposite how Apple handled its iPad Mini with Retina
  Display launch several months later, benefited Google greatly.
  The Nexus 7 2013 model sold out almost immediately and has continued to be a
  strong contender in the 7-inch slate market thanks to its excellent
  feature-to-price ratio. The newer model also fared better with reviewers, who
  generally noted none of the sluggishness or inconsistent performance the first
  Nexus 7 was occasionally called out for.

Figure 21. Google Nexus 9

Source: Google

• Launch Date – October 15, 2014
• Launch Price –
  • Wi-Fi Only: $399 (16GB) $479 (32GB)
  • Wi-Fi+LTE: $599 (32GB) 
• Features
  • System-on-Chip – NVIDIA Tegra K1
  • Memory – 2 GB RAM
  • Display – 8.9-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 2048×1536 at 281 PPI
  • Camera – 1.6 MP front-facing camera with a 8.5MP rear camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE, NFC
  • Power – 6,700 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 5 (Lollipop)
  • Manufactured by – HTC
• Description and Reception – Google’s first collaboration
  with HTC since the Nexus One, the Nexus 9 tablet is positioned as a direct –
  albeit slightly smaller – successor to the Nexus 10. Although it features a
  significantly upgraded processor, the unit comes with the same amount of
  memory as its older cousin, while also dropping to a slightly lower pixel
  density for its display. While the unit was generally well received by
  reviewers, most did note some apprehension at apparent build quality issues
  and Google’s decision to use lower end components in some areas (display,
  camera, and others). Unlike most Nexus smartphones and tablets, the Nexus 9
  did not have any extended period of unavailability following its launch.
  Although this does not necessarily mean the tablet will prove to be less successful
  than its predecessors, it does suggest that early complaints about the
  aforementioned issues, as well as the increased price point and growing list
  of worthy Android tablet competitors have taken a chunk out of Google’s tablet
  success.

Figure 22. Google Pixel C

Source: Google

• Launch Date – December 8, 2015
• Launch Price – $499 (32GB) or $599 (64GB)
• Features
  • System-on-Chip – NVIDIA Tegra X1
  • Memory – 3 GB RAM
  • Display – 10.2-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 2560×1800 at 308 PPI
  • Camera – 2 MP front-facing camera with an 8MP rear camera
  • Connectivity – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC
  • Power – 9,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery
  • Android Launch Version – 6 (Marshmallow)
• Description and Reception – While Google’s interest in
  the tablet marketplace seemed to be waning by the time the Pixel C came
  around, the company was still able to produce a device that could compete
  directly with Apple’s contemporary offerings. In the case of the Pixel C, it
  seemed Google wanted to target the same audience as Apple’s iPad Pro. Although
  the Pixel C did not support any kind of pressure sensitive stylus like the iPad Pro, the slate did launch with a first-party keyboard case designed to
  turn the device into something of a laptop replacement. This, coupled with the
  Pixel C’s ample processing power, led to a unit that could compete with most Chromebooks and even some lower-end laptops as a machine for "getting
  work done." Despite the prowess of the unit, the Pixel C did not seem to
  gain much traction among consumers and would lead to a period of several years during which Google would release no new tablet devices. Following this
  period, Google once again returned to the tablet marketplace. However, rather
  than attempting to compete with Apple by releasing a new device based on a
  mobile operating system, like Android, Google instead took aim at Microsoft and
  other manufacturers of tablets running on Desktop class operating systems with
  the Pixel Slate. This unit left Android behind in favor of Google’s other
  operating system, Chrome. Although the Pixel Slate is, of course, quite
  portable, it falls outside of the purview of this report due to its OS. Since
  the Pixel C, Google has produced no new first-party tablets based on the Android
  OS.

Device Comparison

[return to top of this report]

Smartphones

With the exception Apple’s iOS, every other smartphone platform, Android
included, is installed on numerous models that are on sale at any given time,
all of which have varying specifications, features, and capabilities. It would
be impossible to compare each and every one of these, and any list of that type
would be almost immediately obsolete. Instead, this section will look at the
most dominant product lines currently competing with Google’s own offerings,
including those of other Android manufacturers. Although specific devices may be
referenced, the primary goal is to examine the companies that have consistently
provided the most worthy competing products from both Android and iOS.

App and Media Store

Google’s own devices all ship with access to its Google Play store. This is
also true of nearly all Android handsets from any manufacturer as the app store
is a built-in component of the Android operating system. Due to this fact, all
Android handsets, whether they are made by Google itself, Samsung, or another company, stand on a level playing field in at least
this one area. As for Google Play itself, it currently boasts over 3
million apps, over 10 million books, tens of thousands of television shows, and
millions of songs. Unlike most other app stores, Google Play also offers
widgets, or tiny applications that live on a user’s home screen and provide
instant access to information such as sports scores, weather, stock quotes,
incoming messages, and more. 

Google’s primary competitor in this space is far and away Apple’s iTunes and
App Store. Although the maker of iOS often refers to its media store and app
store separately, they are essentially a single storefront spread across two
distinct applications. Like Android’s Google Play, iOS’ access to the App Store
and iTunes is ubiquitous to all devices. Apple boasts very similar totals at any
given moment for the numbers of apps, books, movies, and music available.
Although the company was previously called out for its heavy use of DRM on
downloaded songs, it has since ended that practice, although it does still
impose DRM restrictions on some videos. It should be noted that the Apple App
Store is much more tightly curated than Google Play, a fact that often leads to
more restriction in the types of apps available, but also tends to provide
much greater protection against malicious applications making their way to
users. 

Finally, there are the wildcard app and media stores that are not tied to a
specific platform. Although these are extremely numerous and often less than
reputable, there are a few major players actually having an impact on the mobile
device landscape. The most important of these, by far, is Amazon. It’s presence
as a seller of Android apps, as well as its platform-agnostic offering of
movies, music, and books, has undoubtedly put a dent in the sales figures of all
three aforementioned OS makers. Its app store also features curation on par with
Apple’s, meaning users purchasing software from it have little to fear. 

Screens and Dimensions

Although Android smartphone screens seem to be growing continually larger
with each successive generation, there remains one distinction between what is
considered average at a given moment and what is considered massive: The title
of "Phablet." As the name would suggest, this refers to a device that
has a large enough screen and enough tablet-like features to be considered a
hybrid falling somewhere between a smartphone and tablet. Once considered a
niche offering, phablets have become a regular part of the Android market
landscape. With Samsung producing the highly successful Galaxy Note line's
growth spreading to nearly every new Android device from every manufacturer,
including Google. Since the launch of the decidedly phablet-sized Nexus 6, it has become abundantly clear that consumers are more
willing than ever to have their pockets taken up by smartphones that would have
seemed comical in size a few years ago. That said, Google has realized
that not all consumers have the hand size or desire for a phablet-sized device,
and has decided to continually offer its ongoing flagship Pixel line in 6-inch
(or so) screen sizes
while offering its XL or Pro lines for those wishing for something larger than 6 inches.

While Android displays have been growing for years, it is only with the
release of the iPhone 6 generation that Apple finally acquiesced to the public
desire for a larger display. The iPhone 6 Plus featured a very similar display
size to Google’s Nexus 6, confirming that a six-inch display would continue to
be the sweet spot for the phablet marketplace. Because of this, Apple has also
shown continued intent to stick with the 6-inch screen size across multiple
generations, having since launched the iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone
8 Plus. This streak ended in 2017 with the launch of the mid-sized iPhone X. However, Apple quickly resumed its habit of offering an up-sized
version of its smartphones in 2018 with the launch of the iPhone XS Max and has
continued this new streak through its current iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Cloud Storage

Cloud storage is another area where Google’s offerings mirror those of other
Android handsets. All manufacturers’ devices are able to access the free tier of
5GB of cloud storage made available on Google’s own Google Drive offering. Any
Android device owner can also take advantage of the same cloud-based storage
options provided by Google Play, which will store most media purchased from its
shelves in the cloud until the user is ready to download it.

While Apple does not offer a self-branded storage
service in the same vein as Google Drive, it does provide a similar level of
cloud-based storage for files downloaded from iTunes.

This area is also heavily populated by third
party competitors that, in most cases, are platform agnostic. The most popular
of these services is Dropbox, which is accessible from all three major mobile
operating systems, as well as from nearly any device with a desktop-class Web
browser.

Browser

Once again, Google’s decision to include all components of Android with the
versions made available to third parties places it on an even keel with its
competitors. Although the Pixel line does come pre-installed with the
latest edition of the company’s Chrome browser for Android, any device running a
moderately up to date version of the operating system can download an identical
version of the browser. As for the browser itself, the mobile version of Chrome
offers most of the same features as its desktop counterpart, including advanced
bookmark management, tabbed browsing, rich media playback, and the ability to
run advanced Web apps. As with all versions of Google Chrome, users can also
sign in to their Google accounts while using the Android App in order to have
instant access to their bookmarks, history, saved passwords, and more. 

Apple is Google’s greatest competitor here as well. The company’s Safari
browser has been considered the gold standard for mobile Web browsers since the
launch of the first iPhone. Although Chrome has come to match the originator in
nearly every way, it is still a very tight race, with each company adding the
occasional new feature in an attempt to innovate past its competitors. 

Price

Google has chosen to price its
more recent offerings, including the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5a, at the mid-range of the smartphone
marketplace, signifying their position as affordable devices. Beginning at $349 and ranging as high as $449, the smartphones
come cheaply. However, the as-yet unknown price of the Pixel 6 — and particularly
its higher-end cousin, the Pixel 6 Pro — are widely expected to be in the $1,000
range, bringing Google back to the top end of the smartphone market.

A Note on Tablets

Although Google was once considered a major player in the Android tablet
space, it has been the better part of a decade since the company added anything
new to its lineup. The historical releases remain an important part of the
history of both Google and Android as a whole, but it would be unfair to compare
these devices to units that have had more than five years to continue evolving.

Sales and Market Share

[return to top of this report]

Smartphones

Market share for smartphones is usually calculated on two bases: platform market share and OEM (original
equipment manufacturer) market share. The
first measures the total percentage of users currently on a given platform
(iOS, Android, Windows Phone, etc), while the other measures the number of a
particular manufacturers’ phones that are in use.

Source: StatCounter¹

As the list shows, Google is on top of the platform
market by a huge margin. What may not be immediately apparent is that nine years ago
Android found itself in much the same positions as any other competitor now
attempting to break into the mobile platform market, facing off against the
then-titans of iOS, BlackBerry OS, and Windows Mobile. The platform’s rise was
nothing short of meteoric. In fact, its rise has caused the termination of two
of the three former leaders in smartphone platforms list above, with BlackBerry
and Microsoft having both been
eliminated from the smartphone market.

Source: StatCounter²

The story in the manufacturer race is far different, and far more in flux. Here,
Google does not even put in an appearance due to the relatively low sales
figures for its Nexus and Pixel smartphone lines, at least when compared to
juggernauts like Samsung and Apple. However, what seemed like the unstoppable
rise of Huawei over the past few years has now been halted in its tracks thanks
to US sanctions against the company which have banned it from accessing vital
components in its smartphone production processes, including chips from Qualcomm
and Intel, as well as the Google-branded services seen on nearly all
smartphones.³ This disastrous blow has driven Huawei down from a
former second-place finisher behind Samsung, to a fourth-place hanger-on that may
soon be passed by the ascendant Oppo.

The Future

[return to top of this report]

Despite Google’s best efforts, its entries into the smartphone
arena at this point have, when it comes down to it, made comparatively little money
for the company. However, they have still been extremely important milestones. Not only has each Nexus
and Pixel handset served as a launch vehicle for
a new version of the Android operating system, they have generally (with the
exception of the past few entries) shown
potential device manufacturers what is possible on the mobile OS. Milestones
like the introduction of front-facing cameras for video chat, NFC functionality,
baked-in virtual reality support, and other technological advances were dovetailed with higher-end designs,
improved production materials, and higher resolution displays. Google may not
have sold anywhere near the volume of devices that Samsung has, but its influence has undoubtedly resulted in
the sale of many millions of non-Google Android phones and pushed the company’s
mobile platform to the top spot it resides in today. The launch of the Pixel 6
appears to be another moment when Google attempts to differentiate itself as the
premier designer of the best Android smartphones.

What is most important for Google at this point is to maintain
and expand one factor that has become increasingly important in both the
smartphone market: Public sentiment. When Android struggled through
its earlier iterations it wasn’t really because of any particular lack of
capability. In fact, most generations of Android devices have been just as
capable as their contemporary iPhone competitors. It was
simply a lack of consumer desire and awareness of the platform that resulted in
its perceived
weakness. For several
years, Apple managed to paint Android as a shoddy upstart, a platform that was,
at best, a toy for the technological elite, but definitely not something that an average
user would ever want to depend on for their primary device. It took years for
Google’s mobile OS to shake that image, but it did shake it in a big way, largely
thanks to the example provided by Google’s Nexus line and the continued focus
on affordable hardware with surprisingly solid performance.

With this history in mind, Google must continue to strike a strange balance.
Obviously, it wants its own devices to be a success, but not to the point where
it alienates its third-party manufacturers. This may have seemed impossible just
a few years ago, but with the Android device market less stable than it has been
for several years, largely thanks to the rise of Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi and Oppo,
as well as the fall of Huawei, Google could very well be poised to capture a
significant part of the Android device market with its own hardware for the
first time.

At the end of the day, Google’s greatest competition in the
smartphone market is, in many ways,
itself. This does not seem like an enviable position on the surface; after all,
no company ever wants one aspect of its business to undermine another. However
Google’s decision to keep the marketing and distribution of Nexus and Pixel smartphones at a low-to-moderate level provides the company relatively little risk.
On top of that, Google can’t steal market share from itself. Any customers that
leave behind devices from Samsung or Motorola for a Google branded
tablet or smartphone are still staying within the Android ecosystem. This means
that they will provide revenue for Google through mobile ads, Google Play
purchases, and now through hardware purchases. The point of this scenario is
that, unless a consumer moves to iOS, Google always wins. Whether it is via Google
Play sales, ad exposures, or the purchase of actual Google hardware, customers
are, one way or another, giving their money to Google. 

With this being the case, the company’s best strategy at this
point would be quite simply to not rock the boat. Android continues to grow
while iOS’ market share is either steady or shrinking in most markets where it
was previously the leader. Google is already experiencing about as
much success as a company can expect in the modern tablet and smartphone markets.
If it’s smart, it will avoid any hasty moves or radical changes that could
jeopardize that position. 

Summary

[return to top of this report]

Despite its current perch at the top of the smartphone platform market, Google must still remain ever-vigilant
of what is just over the horizon. We sit here examining the major manufacturers that
were complete unknowns just a few years ago. A little further back, the industry
saw giants like Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Windows Phone and the BlackBerry OS become
completely irrelevant. On the other hand, the years have been kind to Apple’s iOS
and Google’s Android. While Apple’s platform market share may have been
overtaken by Google, it is by no means a company on the decline. In fact, a cornered
Apple may be one of the most frightening prospects conceivable in the tech
industry. 

Thankfully for Google, it still finds itself in a strong,
diversified position, where its device success, platform success, and rising
public image are all combining to make a company that was formerly thought of as
just a search engine provider the biggest player in the mobile device market. How long
this comfortable position will remain in place, no one knows. But Google seems
among the most well equipped companies in the industry to latch onto its current
success and make it grow.

References

¹"Mobile Operating System Market Share Worldwide ."
Statcounter. Retrieved August 20, 2021.

² "Mobile Vendor Market Share Worldwide."
Statcounter. Retrieved August 20, 2021.

³ Vlad Savov. "Intel, Qualcomm, and Other Chipmakers
Reportedly Join Google in Huawei Ban ." The Verge. May 19, 2019.

Web Links

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• Google: http://www.google.com/
• Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/
• Apple: http://www.apple.com/
• Samsung: http://www.samsung.com/

About the Author

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Michael Gariffo is an editor for Faulkner Information Services. He
tracks and writes about enterprise software, the Web, and the IT services sector, as well
as telecommunications and data networking.

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