If you are a fan who has been paying attention to phones for a long time, then you may still remember Google’s Nexus phone plan. In 2010, the Nexus One, made by HTC, was released, and the series became synonymous with “Google phones.” The Nexus program includes Google-branded devices from companies as diverse as HTC, mentioned above, but also LG and Motorola. The plan even included a phone made by Huawei, the Nexus 6P released in 2015.
In 2016, Google changed tack and replaced its Nexus phones with a new line of Pixel phones. And now we’re in 2023, with the Pixel 8 series just launched this week.
It is noticed that according to a tweet posted by Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of data and analysis at IDC, from 2016 to 2023, Pixel phone sales reached 37.9 million units. By comparison, Apple sold 97.7 million iPhones in the first two quarters of 2023 alone. Still, the Pixel is often seen as Google’s answer to the iPhone.
In fact, sales of Pixel phones are growing, with Jeronimo noting that sales have been growing by double digits over the past few years. According to data, approximately 10 million Pixel phones were sold last year. Now that Google has expanded the Pixel ecosystem to include Pixel Watch, Pixel Tablet, and Pixel Buds Pro headphones, Pixel phone sales are likely to continue to grow.
In the U.S., the Pixel line was the only phone among the top five brands to see year-over-year growth in the second quarter, with Pixel phone deliveries up 48% in the quarter.
