Google Pixel 6a Is A Dark Horse In India, Can Win If It Beats These Challenges

Google Pixel 6a is a dark horse and needs to up the game if it wants to get good volumes and market share in India.

Timely availability of the Pixel 6a offline will be key to success in India. Image: Google

New Delhi: Google Pixel 6a is making its way into India and it will the first Pixel device to launch in the country after 2020. Pixel fans who wanted to own a Pixel 6 and the Pixel 6 pro had to depend on family or friends living outside the country to be able to lay their hands on one. However, the tech giant gave us the good news at the Google I/O that the Pixel 6a will be launched in India, the world's second largest smartphone market.

The Google Pixel 6a costs $449 in the US, which roughly translates into Rs 35,000. It is likely that the Pixel 6a costs higher and goes up to Rs 39,999, much higher than the Pixel 4a, the company's last device in India. Even as Google is launching a Pixel device in India in 18 months and I am happy that the device is finally launching in the country.

It should be noted that 80 per cent of the market is below Rs 20,000-segment, according to market research firm IDC and specs in the mid-range are most important for consumers while evaluating a smartphone. The Pixel 6a packs in great hardware especially the 5nm Tensor SoC that makes it one of the fastest in the mid-range segment. Google Pixel 6a is a dark horse and needs to up the game if it wants to get good volumes and market share in India, say experts. 

"I dont think the launch is late for India. India is a very different market, one needs to get it right on other factors like pricing, availability, channels, after sales etc. Pixel series already has a good mind share in India. Even few quarters back the Pixel 4 series was getting consumer attention. So, timing wise I dont think it is late," Trun Pathak, Research Director, Counterpoint Research, told ABP Live.

Removal of duty and local assembly will be key to Pixel 6a's success

The tech giant will have to address a few challenges with timely availability of the Pixel 6a offline and availability at a subsidised price being the most important ones.

"Google should be making sure that they are manufactured in India and not levy a 20 per cent duty like what they used to do with previous generations and at the same time product availabilty in offline will be the key. The positioning will be more on camera and software experience, however competition in India's premium segment has heated up, but there is still room for multiple players to grow," Pathak explained. 

Echoing similar sentiments, Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group at CMR, told ABP Live: "I do foresee challenges ahead for Google, including channel tie-ups and the need for local manufacturing to potentially ramp-up, for its India gambit to be meaningful and successful."

"Considering its volumes in India, and the scale of investments required to enter the consideration set here, domestic potential for Google is low. In absence of that it is difficult to justify scaling up manufacturing from India," Navkendar Singh, Research Director, Client Devices & IPDS, IDC, told ABP Live.

India's premium smartphone market difficult to crack

Even as the Google Pixel 6a may shine in the widely popular mid-range market, it will be difficult for the device to crack the premium segment which is dominated by the likes of Samsung and Apple. 

"Positioning itself against Apple and Samsung won't be easy to do in India. Premium market is really a two horse race in India -- Apple and Samsung. Without lack of any serious play in the market, Google won't be able to get much volumes from India," Singh explained.