A report published earlier this month suggested that Pixel phones grew 3x in North America in just one month. It was based on data from traffic analysis platform Statcounter which relies on tracking code installed on more than 1.5 million websites to calculate stats.
From a high of 21 percent in late October, the market share of Google Pixel dropped to just 4 percent on November 24, before increasing to 11 percent the next day, according to the website.
Manufacturer market share US | Image Credit – Statcounter
The opposing trends in Apple and Google’s graphs suggest they gain market share strictly at each other’s expense. Market share of other top players, including Samsung and Motorola, held steady during the same period.
All this indicates that StatCounter’s data might not be reliable. For some perspective, there are over 310 million smartphone users in the US and 130.6 million smartphones were sold in the US in Q3 2023.
A market share of 21 percent in October would translate to millions of sales in just a month, and knowing that Google considers selling 10 million units in the entire world in a year a milestone, we don’t think it managed that feat.
That said, while we don’t think that Statcounter’s data should be accepted at face value, it shouldn’t be entirely dismissed. After all, other reports have also been pointing to an increase in demand for Pixel phones. The third quarter of 2024 was reportedly Google’s best quarter in terms of sales and CEO Sundar Pichai also said that the Pixel 9 witnessed strong demand during Q3 2024 earnings call.
So even though the Pixel is steadily rising in popularity, it could be a while before it cuts into the iPhone or Samsung Galaxy’s supremacy, which happen to be the two most popular phones in the US.
