Despite record quarter, Google Pixel sales remain outside top 5 for simple reason

Google Pixel phones are gaining traction in the competitive smartphone market, achieving their highest-ever quarterly sales in Q3 2024. This milestone comes amid the launch of the Pixel 9 series and the lingering success of the Pixel 8a, but Google still can’t break into the top five vendors.

The report from Counterpoint Research shows that the broader smartphone market saw a modest 2% growth year-on-year in Q3. Leading brands like Samsung and Apple maintained their positions at the top, with Samsung capturing 19% of the market share, though down slightly from last year’s 20%. Meanwhile, Xiaomi strengthened its foothold with a 14% share, followed by OPPO and vivo, each holding 9%.

Despite its record sales, the likely reason that Google remains outside the top five is that the figures are based on volume. While we can’t see hard number here, the fact that Google doesn’t offer a genuinely budget-priced option may limit its appeal in some markets. And there’s also the fact that Pixel devices are not available in as many regions as some of its competitors.

In contrast, other than Apple, the top five smartphone makers owe their success partly to their affordable options. Brands like Xiaomi and vivo have built large customer bases by offering competitively priced devices that appeal to a broader audience. Motorola and HUAWEI, while not in the top five, have also achieved impressive growth by offering budget-friendly smartphones, fueling their nearly 30% surge in sales in Q3.

Google’s failure to climb higher in these rankings is unlikely to concern the manufacturer. Record sales based on the brand’s performance in the premium and mid-tier categories suggest that it is likely to be driving huge revenue overall.