Google adopts an Apple-like approach for its Pixel products

SAN FRANCISCO –

Google took Wednesday a major step towards advancing its Pixel product line-up, following the same path as Apple’s array of innovative devices.

Google’s latest additions to the Pixel brand’s six-year-old Pixel brand will be its first smartwatch, which draws on the features and expertise it acquired last year when it bought Fitbit for US$2.1 billion.

Google’s latest watch will be released in the autumn. It marks Google’s first major effort to enter wearable technology. The market has grown steadily ever since Apple launched its smartwatch in 2014. Google’s presence in smartwatch markets was limited to making an Android version for other manufacturers.

Google used its annual I/O developer conference to tease a Pixel Tablet that will be released next year to challenge Apple’s market-leading iPad.

Google not only showed off its upcoming devices but also showcased the next version Android, its operating system that runs most of the smartphones in the world, excluding Apple’s iPhone. The presentation also highlighted many advances in artificial intelligence.

Google’s new devices emphasis indicates that it is confident it has better knowledge of how to make and design hardware. Google was best known for its search engine. It launched its first Pixel smartphone in 2016.

“It takes a long time to build the capabilities, and now you are seeing very visibly that technology be expressed through many different products,” Rick Osterloh, the executive in charge of Google’s device division, told reporters earlier this week. “It was like an iceberg in that you didn’t see a lot what was happening underneath, but now you can really see all these things coming to the surface.”

Google is able to expand its reach and connect with people because it has more than $200 billion in digital advertising sales annually. saidTuong Nguyen, Gartner analyst

Adding more products to the Pixel line-up “gives them another touch point to learn and experience things with people more directly,” Nguyen said. “Now, they not only be in your pocket, but now they can be on your wrist, and in your ears, too.”

Google will launch its smartwatch in July. It will also be launching a new budget model, the 6a, and its first wireless earbuds with noise cancellation.

The Pixel 6a includes Google’s top processor and will be available for $449. This is 25% off the Pixel 6a, which was released last autumn. The Pixel Buds Pro will be $199. Both products will be available for purchase on July 28th.

Google is able to expand its reach and connect with people because it has more than $200 billion in digital advertising sales annually. saidTuong Nguyen, Gartner analyst

Adding more products to the Pixel line-up “gives them another touch point to learn and experience things with people more directly,” Nguyen said. “They not only be in your pocket, but now they can be on your wrist, and in your ears, too.”

The watch will be first product to test the privacy pledge Google made 16 months back to obtain regulatory approval for Fitbit’s takeover. Google made a deal with Fitbit to promise not to use the Fitbit’s health and fitness information to generate digital ads. This is a commitment that the company has kept. saidIt will work with the new Pixel Watch.

Even though they aren’t as popular as smartphones, smartwatches continue to be a significant market player with global shipments of 31.3million units this year. This is up from 18.5million in 2019, before the pandemic which sparked even greater demand for internet-connected gadgets.

Google has not made significant inroads even though it spent billions on a hardware business that now employs thousands of people.

Despite receiving glowing reviews, Pixel smartphones only have a 1% market share in the global smartphone market, according to International Data Corp. IDC reports that Apple shipped 56 million iPhones within the first three months alone.

Nabila Popal is an IDC analyst saidThere are indications that the Pixel smartphone range is gaining more popularity. She believes the Pixel 6 would have sold even better than it already has were it not for chip shortages that have hurt a variety of products, increasing the chances that the lower priced 6a model will be “very well received.”

Google, for its part, claims the Pixel 6 has outsold the Pixel 4 combined in the first six months.