Google has doubled its market share for Pixel phones in the US since last year

Robert Triggs / Android Authority

Google seems to be heading in the right direction with Pixel phones, or at least that’s what the numbers are showing. According to Canalys, the market share for Pixel phones in the US doubled in Q2 2023 compared to the same time last year.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves; Google is still a small fry in the North American smartphone market. Numbers indicate that it grabbed 4% of the market in the previous quarter, coming in at the fifth position.

Apple, with a 54% market share, and Samsung, with a 24% market share, topped the charts in Q2 this year. However, Google was the only company that showed a positive shipment growth compared to last year. As opposed to the 800,000 Pixels that it shipped in Q2 2022, the company managed to ship 1.2 million Pixels in Q2 2023. That’s quite an impressive performance from Google in a highly volatile smartphone market.

“Brands such as Google Pixel and Motorola, which have been keeping up with the premiumization game with their flagship foldable devices this year, will further sweeten the holiday deals that hit the market in November and December,” said Lindsey Upton, Analyst at Canalys.

The research organization notes that the demand for premium smartphones segment remains strong. The Average Selling Price for smartphones in North America increased to $738 in Q2 2023, up from $663 in Q2 2022. Appel and Samsung have been the biggest winners in the premium smartphone segment, with new launches like the iPhone 15 series and Galaxy Z Fold and Flip 5 driving consumer demand. Meanwhile, the mass-market and budget phone segment is not doing so well.

“Despite a shorter refresh cycle, the segment is not expected to recover quickly due to an extended period of inflation affecting consumer budgets. The double-digit declines for Samsung, TCL, HMD, and OnePlus in the past six months indicate vendors are highly cautious, given inventory levels are still high. More importantly, major carriers have shifted the focus of their resources from prepaid to postpaid and premium segments,” Canalys explains.

The report goes on to say that sustainability regulations and right-to-repair regulations in North America will create a new dynamic smartphone business model in the region.