It’s too early to talk about the Pixel 4 flagship phone that Google will likely launch sometime in the fourth quarter this year, but sources said to be familiar with the matter have revealed Google’s hardware plans for 2019, which unsurprisingly include a bunch of new devices. In addition to the Pixel 3 successors that will be released later this year, Google will start selling a cheaper Pixel 3 version soon. Updates for Home products are also in the works, and the first ever Pixel Watch is supposedly in the making.
The news comes from Nikkei Asian Review, which says that Google plans to unveil its first lower-priced smartphone this year “as part of an aggressive push into hardware that it hopes will draw more users into its ecosystem,” according to sources. Well, Google’s first lower-priced smartphone launched many years ago under the now-defunct Nexus brand. The device Nikkei is referring to will have Pixel branding — and we already know it’s the unannounced Pixel 3 Lite thanks to plenty of leaks.
It’s unclear exactly when the cheaper Pixel 3 will launch or how much it’ll cost, but the report says the phone should cost less than Apple’s iPhone XR, which starts at $749 in the US. Google is looking to increase Pixel phone sales and there’s no question that a low-cost model is a good way to accomplish that goal. The report mentions statistics from the IDS that show Google sold some 3.45 million Pixel units in 2017 and 4.68 million Pixel units last year.
Sources familiar with the matter also told Nikkei that Google plans to launch new smart speakers, wearables, and web cameras this year, in addition to new smartphones from its Pixel range.
While product names haven’t been mentioned for these devices, we can easily speculate that the next premium phones from Google will be called Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. Also, the “smartwatch [that will] compete with the Apple Watch” will likely be called the Pixel Watch, considering what Google has done with the Pixel brand so far.
The report also notes that Google plans to launch a new Nest-branded security camera this year, as well as an updated version of the Google Home smart speaker.
