Google Defines The Manufacturers’ Path with GO

In a piece, I noted that Google Pixel is an attempt for Google to define what a real Android (and Chrome) hardware would be just as Microsoft Surface has done for Windows products, blunting the rise of Mac.

This is exactly the reason why Google continues to make Android mobile devices (the Pixel series). Simply, it wants to match iPhone quality and in the process help Android to be seen as an OS that can power great mobile devices of the future. Leaving that work alone to Android OEM partners could affect Android, in the long-term, if the partners fail on execution. Largely, if Google Pixel succeeds, the Pixel will become the benchmark for Android devices. Yes, Google does not need to make money from Pixel – merely inspiring the Android OEMs will be good enough!

In this article, TechCrunch made the same point. Simply, our analysis cannot lead astray!

The Go is clearly Google’s attempt to lead the way for manufacturers looking to explore Chromebook life outside the classroom. It has some nice hardware perks, but it’s not the revolution or revelation ChromeOS needs.

[…]

Google’s recent hardware event was, perhaps, something of a referendum on the play. The original Pixelbook, while not discontinued, has yet to get a refresh two years after launch. Heck, even the troubled Pixel Buds got a reprieve as the company previewed their successor. The Pixelbook, on the other hand, got the Go.

The new device isn’t a Pixelbook replacement — at the very least, Google’s looking to sell through its back stock, with some deep discounts earlier this year. Rather, the device seems to be more a tacit admission that the company was shooting a bit too high the first two times around.

The bottomline is thus: there is a time when outsourcers cannot define your product vision. You need to step up and take charge, just as this comment postulated.

You get to a point where you realise that there are certain things you cannot outsource, if you want to tell stories that are consistent with your values…

Once you figure out that your partners cannot measure up with your level of innovation, you simply take over and show them how it should be done.

There’s no guarantee that you will be successful in the new domain, but if you eventually succeed, you become a reference point, the new benchmark!

The Microsoft Satya Nadella’s Interview on Surface

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