Google’s Pixel 3A experiment pays off, sold twice as many Pixel devices in Q2 2019

Google is now gearing up for its annual “Made by Google” event, usually held in October, where it will unveil the next flagship phone, Pixel 4.

Google sold twice as many devices in Q2, thanks to Pixel 3A (AFP)

Taking the "budget phone" route seems to have worked for Google as the overall Pixel unit sales in the second quarter (Q2) of 2019 grew more than twice year-on-year (YoY), the company's CEO Sundar Pichai told investors.

The Google CEO attributed the success of the Pixel line-up -- including Pixel 3A, which starts at $399 -- to an expanded distribution network.

Beating Wall Street expectations, Google's parent Alphabet posted a revenue of $38.9 billion and a profit of $9.9 billion in its second quarter earnings for 2019, The Verge reported on Thursday.

The tech giant has never broken out of concrete Pixel sales before, thus, making it difficult to know how many more units this increase involves.

"The twice YoY growth touted comes following a doubling of the phone line-up with mid-tier devices joining the flagship models.

"Pichai's last comments about Pixel came in October 2018 following a question by an analyst about why Google's phone line-up wasn't more successful. Cited reasons at the time included not enough product inventory, and the need for a better go-to-market strategy and retail availability," according to 9to5Google.com.

This comes ahead of the Internet giant's annual "Made by Google" event, usually held in October, where it announces its next-generation Pixel devices.