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Google Pixel to bite Apple, hurt Samsung
NEW DELHI: Google’s new smartphones, which have been pitched against Apple’s iPhones, may end up hurting Samsung and other Android handset makers more.
NEW DELHI: Google’s new smartphones, which have been pitched against Apple’s iPhones, may end up hurting Samsung and other Android handset makers more.
“I do think Pixel will be a strong competitor for Apple’s iPhones, but is likely to be an even more formidable competitor for Samsung,” Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, said.
The Pixel and Pixel XL, which start at ₹57,000 and ₹67,000 respectively in India, will vie for a share of the premium segment, which accounts for 17-20% of the country’s smartphone market by value. Pathak also said that the Diwali season will also boost sales of Pixel handsets.
Google, which is already betting big on India, has fleshed out plans for Pixel also. “Interest free EMI programmes and attractive upgrade offers will be available in India. Pixel users will have access to a toll free phone support number along with 54 walk in service centres across 30+ cities in India,” it said in a statement.
But Ian Fogg, senior director, mobile and telecoms, IHS Markit, told HT feels the prices could have been more aggressive.
SPEED BUMPS AHEAD FOR HANDSET-MAKERS
Meanwhile, Google may be going the Apple way with the launch of its new Pixel smartphone sand this might force handset makers, including HTC, Sony and Samsung,which are largely dependent on Google‘s operating system, to look for alternatives.
The internet giant has reserved a swathe of features exclusively for the Pixel and the Pixel L, which will come loaded with Android Nougat, the latest version of the world’s most-used operating system.
This means that even though other manufacturers will get to offer the latest Android version on their phones, these may not sport built-in features such as Google Assistant and Pixel Launcher, among others. Google has not commented on this.
With Google wanting to distinguish its phones on the basis of such features, the competition maybe forced to develop their own operating systems. In June this year, for instance, Samsung mooted the idea of shifting all its phones to its proprietary Tizen OS.
“The operating system licensing model which Microsoft pioneered and everyone tried to copy before Apple’s iPhone success,” Fogg told HT.
Manufacturers now use either stock Android as the operating system for their phones or build upon it—referred to as for king—make custom OS es for their phones. For instance, Xiaomi’s MIUI is built on Android. According to Statista, Android had a 86% market share as of July 2016 among mobile operating systems. This has meant the competition, barring Apple, does not have OSes that can compete with Android.
