Google presented their first ever phone on 4 October. Is it new? They say so. It seems they are really going to compete with the Samsung and Apple phones. They even challenge the new iPhone 7 in their promo video, saying Pixel doesn’t have any ‘new’ headphone jack.
Watch it here at 00:43.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rykmwn0SMWU
So what’s new? They add several innovations, that aren’t yet available by either Samsung and Apple. First of all, Pixel has a high rated camera, like Samsung and Apple. I barely see the difference between Samsung and Apple already (but maybe that is just me), so I wouldn’t say this will really differentiate Pixel. However, they offer unlimited storage for all photos and videos in high quality. I (and many others) always had many problems storing my photos, so I suspect this will be pretty effective. It’s something Samsung and Apple might try to copy in the near future as well.
The main reason for me for switching to Samsung (yes, I have an iPhone) would just be the battery life. I cannot normally use a phone as I am supposed to use it, because the battery of my iPhone is always dead. Pixel doesn’t really add anything to battery life, but adds new charging standards. You are able to charge the battery life up to 7 hours in 15 minutes. Now, when your battery is dead you can just charge your battery fast and easily. However, I think this outperforms Apple but not Samsung yet.
The main attraction that the new Pixel phone has to offer is the new Daydream view, which integrates Virtual Reality into daily life. I wrote my other blog about integrating Virtual Reality into daily life and that is exactly what Pixel does, so I can only be extremely positive about this. To see what it actually does and how it actually works, check this video: https://madeby.google.com/vr/
Pixel is the first phone that integrates Virtual Reality into their phones. By this they have a clear USP compared to Samsung and Apple. It will be hard for them to ‘just copy’ this aspect in their phones. They will first have to invest a lot of resources into integrating this into their phones, they would probably have to deviate from the strategic path they are taking (except if they were already planning in doing this) and then when they would finally introduce a phone with ‘a-daydream-view-kind-of-thing’ everybody would know Pixel was the first to introduce it. However, the daydream view will only be a success if Virtual Reality is a success, so part of the success of Pixel will be dependent on the adoption of Virtual Reality.
Finally, Pixel has some nice design and specifications, just like the other phones. On top of that, they have the brand image as well, because it is produced by Google, which might be a crucial factor in the success as well. If another company with an unknown brand would produce the exact same phone, the success rate would be lower as well, as customers would be less eager to switch.
In conclusion, Pixel has some clear USP’s and especially with the daydream view, it has a potential winning lottery ticket. It has good specifications and has a fine brand image already thanks to Google. Combining these factors, it will probably be able to compete and might be even more successful than Samsung and Apple. Especially nowadays as people are hungering for something new.
Hi Dylan, thanks for the interesting post. I can add one thing to the benefits of Pixel versus Samsung in specific, which is the battery debacle of the Galaxy Note 7. I think that had a major effect on brand reputation which could very well lead to people trying out Pixel due to Google’s excellent brand reputation. Google’s timing with launching the Pixel just after the battery debacle is perfect to put them on track as a severe competitor of Samsung and Apple, let alone with other smartphone manufacturers that make use of Android.