It appears that Google is planning something really serious, to compete in the mobile market. No we are not talking about its upcoming Nexus devices. It’s something even more special.
The Mountain View company is reportedly prepping to manufacture a new Android phone, yes, an in-house piece of hardware.
Though it does sell Nexus brand devices, with a bloat freestock UI, these are not considered premium devices, thanks to their significantly lower price tags. compared to other flagship devices, especially the Apple iPhone.
A senior insider source from Google, allegedly told the Telegraph , that the company would be launching a new Google branded Android phone. Here is what the report mentions:
The technology giant is in discussions with mobile operators about releasing a Google-branded phone that will extend the company’s move into hardware
The British tabloid’s report says that the phone will be launched sometime at the end of the year. This suggests, that the new device could arrive at around the same time as the Nexus 2016 devices. Speaking of which, this means we could see two HTC Nexus devices (Marlin and Sailfish), alongside a Google phone.
9to5Google quotes an insider from Google, who said that Google is annoyed with the iPhone being the only premium phone in the market. It is no secret that the hardware, which the Cupertino company manufactures in-house, combined with a highly optimized operating system, iOS, which gives the iPhone a “luxury phone” status.
And this is exactly what Google is likely perceiving. So the company is looking to have more control over the hardware part of its devices, unlike the Nexus devices, in which the OEMs have more say. This could also reduce the fragmentation problem of the Android OS.
Is Google ready to manufacture phones? We think so. After all, it did manufacture the Pixel C tablet, and two Chromebooks.
