Google Pixel Smartphone Shipments Doubled to 3.9 Million in 2017: IDC

Google has reportedly managed to ship double the number of Pixel smartphones in 2017 as compared to 2016. As per IDC's research director Francisco Jeronimo, Google doubled shipments of Pixel smartphones in 2017 with 3.9 million units sold. While the numbers are not great in the global smartphone market, it shows steady growth for the company's lineup. Meanwhile, Android co-founder Andy Rubin's Essential Phone appears to be still a long way from making a market.

As per Jeronimo's tweet, Google Pixel's shipment of 3.9 million phones is double its 2016 volume. It is not a very large number when compared to the quarterly numbers from companies like Samsung and Apple. Since the doubling of volume has been mentioned, it is also worth noting that Google had announced its Pixel smartphones lineup quite late in 2016. Additionally, in 2017, the company provided discounts on the original Pixel smartphones and also launched the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL smartphones. However, total shipments close to 4 million, despite being a small portion of the smartphone market, is good for a new smartphone lineup.

Meanwhile, Google's success is also more evident when we look at the Essential Phone, which managed to sell less than 90,000 units in almost the same time period as the original Pixel. IDC's report says "Andy Rubin's new smartphone venture is facing tough competition. The Essential Phone only shipped 88,000 units in 2017". It should be noted that Essential Products is a startup and the PH-1 was its first product. Last year, ahead of the Pixel 2 launch, Essential Products had slashed the price of the Essential Phone - from $699 (roughly Rs. 45,460) to $499 (roughly Rs. 32,457) in order to compete with the big guns.

If Google keeps on increasing its year-over-year growth in terms of shipments, it is likely to challenge mobile giants such as Samsung and Apple. Jeronimo had noted that the smartphone market size is 1.5 billion, which means Google has a lot of space to grow.