The most recent data we have regarding sales of Google’s Pixel handsets came last October before the Pixel 7 line was introduced, from Bloomberg. The report stated that prior to the unveiling and release of the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, and the limited release of the Pixel Fold, 27.6 million Pixels had been purchased since the line started in 2016. This certainly does not even come close to the number of handsets that Apple and Samsung sell in one year. It doesn’t approach Motorola’s smartphone sales or the sales of many other manufacturers.
This is not to say that things aren’t looking up for the Pixel brand. According to Counterpoint Research, thanks to the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, global shipments of Pixel handsets soared 67% year-over-year in Q1 2023. But the U.S. isn’t where Pixel smartphones shine. Surprisingly, that country is Japan where 34% of Q1 2023 Pixel shipments were delivered. That is up sharply from the 10% of Pixel shipments that were sent to Japan during the same quarter last year.
The U.S. had the largest drop in regional Pixel sales as the country received 51% of shipped Pixels in the first quarter of 2022 only to see that figure decline to 31% during this year’s initial quarter. During the same time period Pixel shipments to Western Europe dropped from accounting for 24% of global Pixel shipments to 17%.
34% of Q1 2023 Pixel shipments were sent to Japan compared to only 10% the year before.
Google is now the second largest smartphone manufacturer in Japan behind Apple with a 9% market share, its highest ever in the country. Apple typically owns over 50% of the Japanese smartphone market and Google this year had a larger market share than local brands Sharp and Sony. Counterpoint says, “Moreover, news of the withdrawal of local brands such as Kyocera, FCNT, and Balmuda from the smartphone market indicates that Tier-1 Japanese OEMs will be limited to only Sony. This is expected to strengthen the market dominance of US brands like Apple and Google in Japan.”
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Another positive sign for Google is the response from consumers to the next iteration of the mid-range Pixel “a” series. The Pixel 7a, released this past May, has seen a 74% jump in cumulative shipments over its first three weeks on the market compared with shipments of the Pixel 6a from the previous year. Counterpoint credits the success of the Pixel 7a to the upgraded Google Tensor 2 chipset, the performance of the unit’s camera, and the 8GB of RAM that the device is equipped with.
The Pixel 7a is available via all three major Japanese carriers this year, SoftBank, AU, and DOCOMO. The Pixel 6a in 2022 was available from only two of the three major carriers (DOCOMO was the one that sat out the Pixel 6a release last year). In Japan, the Pixel 6a was the top-selling Android model for seven consecutive months from September 2022 to March 2023. With the Pixel 7a off to an even better start, there is a lot for Google to be smiling about in the country.
