Can Google win in the India market with latest Pixel 10 series?

Google unveiled its latest Pixel 10 smartphone lineup in August last week. This included Pixel 10, 10 Pro, 10 Pro XL, and 10 Pro Fold. With India pricing starting from ₹79,999, the Pixel 10 series pricing remains much in line with the Pixel 9 series pricing last year. Yet, the big question is if Pixel 10 will do the magic for Google in India that previous launches from the tech giant couldn’t do.

Positioning the brand in a highly concentrated segment

If you assess the Indian smartphone market, which is undergoing a premiumisation upsurge, the share of the super-premium segment in the overall market, upwards of $800 (~₹71,000), is around 7%, according to data from International Data Corporation (IDC). As a result, the pie is too small in terms of volume, to have a significant market share within India.

The bigger play lies in the premium segment that is anywhere between $600-$800 (that is ₹52,000 onwards but less than ₹70,000), given the market share for that within one quarter has seen a twofold percentage increase.

Even if the value proposition for the super-premium segment were to sound lucrative for Google in India, the bigger challenge, as Navkendar Singh, AVP, IDC India, points out, is to tackle the duopoly of Samsung and Apple.

“Because if you see in the premium and the Super premium segment, which I say basically ₹50,000. Apple and Samsung are almost [with] 93-94% market share, and Google is a distant 4th with low single-digit kind of volume share, and that is despite the Pixel 9 and Pixel 8 launches,” he adds.

As a result, in a market where Google already has a very small presence, it becomes difficult to capture a meaningful share given how concentrated the market is. According to IDC data, Pixel had less than 1% share in 2024 in the entire smartphone market in India, with under 400k shipments in the entire calendar year.

Thus, Singh believes that even with a strong product like the Pixel 10, Google is unlikely to move the needle in India’s smartphone market, and that the Pixel may find it even harder to break Apple’s deep brand loyalty in the country.

“We don't see Google impacting Apple’s growth in any meaningful fashion. Google can never be a consumer choice [over] Apple. I think Google is competing with Samsung, and even there Samsung is winning, because as you've seen, [Samsung Galaxy] 25 and even Z Fold, when you compare [it with] the Pixel fold (are) much, much superior and slimmer devices and [Samsung has] a better positioning versus Pixel devices now,” he said.

Is pricing the only issue?

If Google indeed were to compete with Samsung and Apple in the super-premium segment, the important aspect was to build that brand loyalty, says Neil Shah, VP – Research, Counterpoint Research.

“Google has not yet done enough to build an Apple-esque brand, design, and tight hardware, software, and services ecosystem to successfully attract loyal iPhone users to the Pixel and the broader Android camp,” he says.

Yet, some efforts are being taken towards building this loyalty. This year, Google began its direct online store offering for Indian buyers in May. Responding to a question from Fortune India, Mitul Shah, MD - Google Devices & Services, India, revealed that the strategy is to focus on online presence over physical presence. “That being said, we would continue to bring the experience zones closer to the user,” he adds, hinting at probable additions to its retail presence in India. While still small, Google has over 20 service centres capable of offering same-day repairs.

Aside from limited retail presence, it appears that Google has limited partnerships in India with private lenders for giving Indian buyers low-cost buying options.

As a result, Shah adds that while the presence remains limited, Google may be betting on premiumising the user’s Android experience.

“Google is playing a long game and wants to control and shape the Android ecosystem, with its Pixel phones serving as the industry benchmark. The ambition with Pixel is to become the definitive Android smartphone, the top choice for consumers who value a pure, native Android experience, as opposed to the customised versions offered by partners like Samsung, Xiaomi, or Oppo,” he adds.

This means that Pixel 10 may still not be able to strengthen Google's position in the Indian market, even as at the global front, Pixel fights Apple for a bite of the super-premium smartphone market.