Google announced its latest lineup of Pixel devices, including the Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro, on Wednesday.
The Google Pixel 8 and the Pixel 8 Pro come with several upgrades to their predecessors this year, especially the seven-year OS-update timeline that Google has committed to, but is that enough to justify the steep hike in its prices this year?
The Pixel 8 retails at Rs 75,999, while the bigger Pixel 8 Pro is priced at a whopping Rs 1,06,999 in India. This is the first time the devices have crossed the Rs 1 lakh+ mark in the country, landing them a place with the likes of the iPhone 15 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. For context, the Pixel 7 retailed for Rs 59,999 and the Pixel 7 Pro for Rs 84,999 last year.
Samsung and Apple users have become accustomed to high prices by now, but Google's move to hike prices by Rs 15,000 for the Pixel 8 and Rs 22,000 for the Pixel 8Pro has come as a shock for Pixel users in the country.
Several users took to social media to complain that the price hike is not justified given how many of the AI features featured in the keynote might not even be available in India.
YouTuber Amit Bhawani says he wouldn’t recommend the Pixel 8 to anyone in India because of the high price and poor resale value.
I wouldn't recommend Buying the #Pixel in India! 😃#Pixel8 US Price $699India: ₹75,999#Pixel8Pro $999India: ₹106,999
We know Apple also prices this way, but their prices don't fall within months, like #GooglePixel. The #MadeByGoogle phone's are good, but the resale value…— Amit Bhawani 🇮🇳 (@amitbhawani) October 4, 2023
Another user feels India was shortchanged when it came to the Pixel 8 lineup's pricing, compared to last year's.
Things definitely did not work in 🇮🇳 India’s favour for the Google Pixel 8 Series!
The Google Pixel 8 & Pixel 8 Pro are getting up to at ₹22,000 jump in the Indian price tag compared to 7 series.What do you think of the pricing? Would you choose it over the iPhone 15 series?… https://t.co/LJMh47ZiRl pic.twitter.com/Cd9BjM9OZM— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) October 4, 2023
Navkendar Singh, Associate Vice President, International Data Corporation (IDC) India, seconds these sentiments. Earlier in the day, he also shared on X that the pricing in India specifically is not great, unlike in the US where the devices are priced at $699 (Pixel 8) and $999 (Pixel 8 Pro).
Deriving insights from the previous Pixel phone sales, he adds that the Premium smartphone range (over Rs 40,000) has only accounted for 12% of the total smartphone sales in the country since Pixel 7’s launch in October 2022, accounting for about 15 million smartphones out of 120 million. Out of this, the Pixel devices barely account for 4% of, and over 50% of this came from the Pixel 6a.
So, with launch price increased for series 8 vs series 7, it is difficult to see it doing much better than last year. Prem end is growing,but 90% is held firmly by Apple, Samsung & OnePlus. Repeating - India is not a priority market for Google for volumes,at least as of now.
— Navkendar Singh (ਨਵਕੇਂਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ) (@navkendarsingh) October 5, 2023
"Pixel 6a and the Pixel 7 series did about 5 lakh units in 11 months from October 2022 to August 2023, around half of this coming from the Pixel 6a alone. We can expect similar numbers from October 2023 to August 2024, since only the premium end of the market is growing, which will have some rub-off effect on Pixel since it is competing with Samsung's Galaxy S series at the top end of the market. But expect the Pixel 7a to drive the majority of its volumes just like the Pixel 6a this year," Singh told CNBC-TV18.
He also notes that India is not a priority market for the tech giant in terms of volume, at least for now, at a time when it holds a single-digit market share in the country.
Both the devices, along with the Pixel Watch 2 and the Pixel Buds Pro, are now available for pre-order on Flipkart.
CNBC-TV18 has reached out to Flipkart for comment on what the Pixel 8 pre-order numbers could look like as compared to its predecessor and is awaiting a response.
(Updated the copy with a comment from Navkendar Singh, Associate Vice President, IDC India)
(Edited by : Vijay Anand)
First Published: Oct 5, 2023 7:07 PM IST
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