An attack from all quarters: Samsung could now face tougher competition from Google

Google has never really been serious about its in-house smartphones, until now. The Android maker has been pushing its new Pixel phones quite hard, and both the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro provide many Galaxy S22 features at a lower price tag.

And according to a new report, Google is only just getting started. Google is reportedly doubling down on Pixel hardware going forward. One of the cited reasons is Samsung’s declining sales and Apple’s increasing sales, and Google wants to take the fight to Apple on its own instead of depending on Samsung and other Android manufacturers.

Google doubling down on Pixel hardware to take on Apple instead of Samsung

Google is said to be worried about lower income from Apple smartphones, as regulators could shut down the deal between the two companies to put Google Search front and center on the iPhone. Google Search is one of the many ways the company serves ads to customers and is one of its biggest revenue streams. Losing that revenue from iPhone users could be a problem for Google, and the internet giant is hoping its Pixel hardware can step up as a replacement.

The report also mentions that Google might “invest less in developing in its Google Assistant voice-assisted search” for devices it doesn’t make itself. However, Google is expected to keep developing the best services for some premium Android manufacturers, and Samsung is one of them (alongside Chinese companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus).

Whether or this report is accurate is not a question one can answer right now. But it would certainly make sense considering how Google has been making a push for its Pixel phones since last year. The Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro undercut Samsung’s premium offerings with lower prices for similar features and are available in many more markets than 2021’s Pixel 6 duo.

All that said, Samsung is perhaps the most important partner for Google so maybe the latter’s changes in strategy won’t affect Samsung fans. To cite an example: Wear OS 3, the latest version of Google’s smartwatch platform, was exclusive to Samsung for some time, so we will have to wait and see if Google and Samsung’s partnership will actually go sour because of the former’s reported new game plan to make Pixel devices a bigger deal.