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Bloomberg
Google showed off a pair of new Pixel phones, a tablet computer, and a speaker with a screen in a deluge of new products aimed at competing with the latest gadgets from other big tech rivals.
The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL phones offer significant upgrades to prior models by adding a nearly edge-to-edge screen on the larger model, more display area on both phones, faster processors and an improved camera. Alphabet Inc.’s Google is banking on the latest versions, viewed as rivals to premium smartphones from Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., to generate meaningful sales that have eluded the products despite positive reviews from users.
Google sold about 4 million phones in 2017, double from a year earlier, according to research firm IDC. In comparison, Apple sold about 217 million iPhones last year. Alphabet doesn’t break out specific hardware sales numbers, but the revenue from the phones and products such as its Home smart speaker are tucked into the company’s other revenues segment, which includes cloud sales and content purchases. Alphabet generated $4.4 billion in the second quarter from this category, up 37 percent from a year earlier.
While the phones haven’t become mass-market hits, Google has seen more success with its home products.