Whew. Talk about a delicate balancing act.
For seven years now, we've been watching Google walk a tightrope between being the keeper of the Android platform — on a software and ecosystem level — and being one of the companies competing for customers' dollars when it comes to the hardware around that.
It's an awkward position to be in, to say the very least. On the one hand, Google's creating and maintaining software that companies like Samsung and Motorola then use to cook up their own Android-based goodies. On the other hand, Google itself is using that same software to create Pixel products that directly go after that exact same crowd — both on the consumer level and in the world of business.
To make matters even more complicated, Google's going up against a prickly perception problem in trying to get its self-made Pixel devices to break through into the mainstream consciousness. Plain and simple, as we've discussed before, Android as a platform has developed a ridiculous reputation for being about cheap, crappy phones, particularly here in the States.
As anyone who actually pays attention to technology knows, that's an almost comical misperception. Android has no shortage of high-quality, high-end devices, many of which far surpass the iPhone in both price and prowess. But it's a very real perception, even so — and if you really look closely, it's starting to seem like Google might have a very interesting plan for getting around that, at least when it comes to its own Pixel-specific interests.
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Let me explain.
The Google Pixel-Android distinction
I won't keep you waiting: Four words in particular seem to reveal an awful lot about Google's game plan for skirting the Android perception issue and making its Pixel products stand out from the pack. And they first caught my eye while I was setting up a review unit of the company's new Pixel 8 Pro flagship phone earlier this fall.
They pop up right after you sign into that latest Pixel model for the first time and get prompted to pull over any apps and settings from your previous phone.
See for yourself:
JR
Four important words — in the Pixel 8 Pro's setup screen.
To be clear, the act of restoring data in and of itself is nothing surprising. Android's offered some form manner of that function for ages now. What jumps out here is the specific choice of words used within the first button on that screen — the one that'd traditionally represent the option for restoring your data from any Android device.
"Pixel or Android device." It may seem subtle, but good golly, do those four words do an awful lot of work.
Specifically, that "or" in the middle and the lack of any modifier after it speaks volumes. With this seemingly innocuous phrase, Google is suggesting that the Pixel is not, in fact, an Android device in any traditional sense. You can restore your info from another Pixel — or you can restore from an Android device. If Google had included the word "another" in there, it'd be a different story. But, nope: It's Pixel or Android. Two totally separate categories.
And lest you think this might be an oversight or anomaly of some sort, I dug around and found other recent instances where the same sort of phrasing is now being used. In fact, Google's got an entire guidebook all about how to "switch from an Android to a Pixel phone."
JR
A Google guidebook with words that carry ample weight.
Now, don't get me wrong: Google isn't hiding the fact that Pixel phones run Android. You'll see plenty of places where Android is mentioned within the Pixel experience, both on the devices themselves and in the associated marketing materials.
But even so, it's increasingly clear that the company is working to present Pixel phones as something distinct — as their own unique entity and not a part of the platform and brand that so many non-Android users have grown to misunderstand.
And while the impact of those efforts is still relatively small, it seems Google's overall Pixel presentation strategy might be starting to make at least somewhat of a dent. As I've noted numerous times before, Pixel sales have been steadily rising for a while now at the same time that smartphone sales in general have been struggling — which, suffice it to say, is a trend worth noticing:
A June 2023 analysis shows Pixel sales experiencing a hefty 20% year-to-year growth from last summer to this year, while phone sales in general dropped by 11%. Earlier this year, another report indicated a 67% year-to-year growth for Pixels in the first quarter of 2023. Other recent quarters show annual growth for Google as high as 230 or even 380 percent, again all while overall smartphone sales have been slumping.
Mind you, the actual sales numbers are still fairly small, with Pixels accounting for a mere 4% or so of the US smartphone market (though apparently now claiming the top spot for phone sales in Japan — go figure!). But much like what we observed with Android itself way back in the day, the trends here speak volumes. And even if the figures are relatively meager for the moment, if those trends continue quarter after quarter, the bigger picture will start to shift before long.
The challenge really seems to revolve largely around the perception of Android and the idea that Android devices are somehow inherently less good than their magical and revolutionary iDevice counterparts (a sentiment artfully reinforced by Apple's ongoing iMessage green-bubble-game silliness, of course).
Go, go, gadget time machine — to this past September:
It's hard not to wonder if the association with the Android brand could ultimately prove to be a limiting factor for both the platform's future and the Pixel's success and if Google would do better to emphasize the Pixel as its own separate alternative — or perhaps to frame it as part of a small and very closely guarded subset of devices that receives some manner of enhanced branding to indicate their exceptional-experience status (Android Silver, anyone?).
And here we are.
As for how much difference these types of distinctions can make, consider this: On a purely anecdotal level, a regular Android Intelligence reader and long-time Intelligence Insider frequently shares anecdotes in our community about his many adventures interacting with The Youths™ in his role as a teacher. He sees this exact flavor of Android misperception up close and personal and relays stories that are almost shockingly in line with the popular narratives we've been pontificating.
Recently, though, he mentioned talking to a student and being asked a question about his own personal preference for Android over iOS.
"Well, I have a Pixel, and there are a lot of reasons I prefer Pixel to iPhone," he recalled saying.
In response, the teen — who moments earlier had been raving about how much Android sucked and how much better iPhones were — replied: "Well, yeah. Pixel’s a really good phone."
Whether or not this still-subtle strategy blossoms into a more in-your-face presentation remains to be seen, but it seems safe to say Google is at the very least testing these waters and starting to play around with how far it's willing to push the envelope. And that alone is a pretty significant clue about the way the company's thinking about the future of its Pixel products — and, more broadly, perhaps also the future of Android.
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