The Nexus phones were usually based on existing products but then customized to Google's specifications and shipped with Google's software instead of the usual manufacturer-meddled mess. They were barely marketed, aimed mostly at Android enthusiasts and developers, and treated as reference devices designed both to guide Google's own development of Android and to show other device-makers what Android could do.įrom a 2016 Verge interview with Android executives: With rare exception, Nexus phones were never truly meant for mainstream awareness or consumption. 'The idea was to show everyone how it should be done,' says Brian Rakowski, VP of product management for Android. Meanwhile, Nexus kind of trundled along at the same small scale.' 'All the partners in the phone manufacturing space took it and built great products on top of it. With that context in mind, it's easy to see why outsiders continue to have that same impression with Pixels. But the Pixel brand was deliberately designed to be a pivot away from the Nexus strategy. Pixel phones are made by Google, with completely original designs. From that same 2016 interview, at the time of the first Pixel phone's launch: They feature not just a 'pure' version of Google's base Android software, as was typically the case with Nexus products, but rather a highly customized and specific software setup that's overflowing with exclusive original features - features that are meant to provide a more helpful and all-around pleasant user experience and that don't appear anywhere else.īut perhaps most significantly, Pixel phones are absolutely positioned to sell - at least, in theory.

Osterloh knows that 'We certainly aren’t going to have enormous volumes out of this product.

This is very first innings for us.' Google’s metric of success for Pixel won’t be whether it picks up significant market share, but whether it can garner customer satisfaction and form retail and carrier partnerships that Google can leverage for years to come.

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