As per data obtained from Counterpoint Research by YouTuber “TechAltar,” a.k.a Marton Barcza, the Pixel 6 brought along a marginal year-over-year (YoY) growth compared to 2020’s Pixel 5. Sales of Pixel phones was up 7% YoY in Q4 2021, while December 2021 witnessed 14% growth compared to December 2020. Meanwhile, Q4 2021 sales were up by 60% from Q3, which isn’t astonishing given that Google only launched the Pixel 5a in Q3. Moreover, the Pixel 5a was only available in the U.S. and Japan. Another Counterpoint report revealed that Google’s U.S. smartphone sales grew 56% YoY in Q4 2021. This puts the company in the sixth position in the region with a market share of 1%. Brands like OnePlus and Alcatel are marginally ahead of Google. Although these figures don’t show exponential growth, it’s clear that Google has managed to turn things around.
The Alphabet CEO said last week that the Pixel 6 series performed decently despite supply chain concerns
There was a distinct lack of flagship smartphones in Q4 2021, primarily due to the ongoing global chip shortage. Counterpoint notes this factor in a report published last month (via 9to5Google). “Carriers remained under pressure to secure smartphone supply, but regional carriers struggled the most, especially in the case of flagship devices. Overall, inventory remained at record low levels in Q4 2021. Android inventory improved on QoQ basis except for certain flagship devices,” Senior Analyst at Counterpoint, Hanish Bhatia, said. Supply chain issues hit almost every tech manufacturing industry last year, with Pichai citing “an extremely challenging supply-chain environment.” Adding to these woes were the software bugs that plagued the initial release of the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro. Thankfully, these concerns have now been rectified, with Google launching the flagship smartphone duo in more regions, including Italy and Spain, as of last week. The company witnessed decent growth in terms of annual revenue last year. Google generated $69 billion in revenues last year, a significant increase from the $52.8 billion recorded in 2020.
