Why Google Keeps Disappointing Indian Pixel Fans

India is the world’s second-largest smartphone market and also the fastest-growing one. Despite having an Indian-origin CEO at the helm, Google continues to treat the country like a second-class market. Look past the marketing, and a clear pattern emerges: India is an afterthought, the phones are priced in ways that punish early adopters, and the company still lacks the physical retail infrastructure. Here’s why Google is still giving Indians the stepchildren treatment.

Made By Google Pixel 11 Launch Event: A Tale of Two Cities

The global launch event for the Pixel 11 will take place on August 12, 2026, at 6 PM EST, which translates to 3:30 AM in India, a timing that conveniently ensures no Indian consumer can catch it live. India gets its own event, but only a day later, on August 13, in Gurugram.

The Made by Google India event will be held inside Google’s own office rather than as a public launch. That’s unsurprising, given that the company doesn’t operate a single physical retail store in the country. While the US event will be hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, the Indian event will be a rather dull affair presided over by Google India employees.

Also, this isn’t the first time India has gotten a delayed release. Last year, the Pixel 9 debuted globally on August 13 and arrived in India a day later, on August 14. Go back further, and the picture gets worse. Google skipped India entirely for three straight years, with the Pixel 4, 5, and 6 never making it to Indian shores. Compare that to Apple, which holds a single global iPhone event, at the same date and time, everywhere. Even the pre-orders in the US and India go live simultaneously. That’s what taking a market seriously looks like, and it also boosted Apple sales in India; more on that below.

Fastest Growing Brand That Loses Its Value Equally Fast

According to a recent Counterpoint report, Google has emerged as the fastest-growing brand in the ultra-premium segment. With a 68 percent year-on-year growth, it has showcased strong potential in the Indian market. This is important because the growth comes at a time when there is turbulence across the entire tech industry due to rising RAM and chip prices.

But most of that growth is coming from first-time Pixel buyers and existing owners upgrading to a newer model. No iPhone or Samsung user is willing to ditch their phone for a Google Pixel. A Counterpoint report does attribute growth to the “Pixel Upgrade Program”. This is sort of a subscription model that lets you upgrade to the latest Pixel every year as long as you keep paying the EMI.

According to IDC data, Google’s smartphone shipments in India grew by 1,300 percent between 2020 and 2023, from 47,000 units to 665,000. Yet despite that surge, its overall market share sits at a meagre 0.5 percent, with the budget-friendly A series accounting for 65 percent of sales. This is also one of the reasons why Google doesn’t seem to take the Indian smartphone market that seriously.

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A Canalys report states that Pixel’s share in the premium smartphone segment has climbed from 1 percent in 2023 to 5 percent in 2024. That’s progress, but still nowhere close to Vivo’s 17.8 percent or Samsung’s 17.6 percent market share.

The real story, though, emerges once you look past the growth numbers. Flagship phones are supposed to hold their value for years after launch. That’s not the case with the Pixel. The Pixel 10 launched at ₹79,999 last year, only to be discounted to ₹67,999 within a month. Here’s a table comparing the Pixel 10 with the Samsung Galaxy S25 and the iPhone 17 for their launch price:

This is why in a price-sensitive market like India, where resale value is an important factor, no one wants to buy a Google Pixel. People hold on to their phone at least 3-4 years, and a poor resale value can dramatically affect their purchase decision. iPhones are known for their stellar resale value, years after their launch.

Apple Is Betting On India While Google Is Testing The Waters

If Google wants to take the Indian market seriously, it should borrow a page from Apple’s playbook. Apple now assembles roughly 55 million iPhones in India, a 53 percent increase over last year, meaning that one in every four iPhones sold worldwide is now made in India.

This manufacturing push has translated into market share too, with Apple now accounting for 7 percent of the Indian smartphone market. Demand for the iPhone 17 series is running at an all-time high, leading to stock shortages despite rumours of a possible price hike. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Apple’s India sales crossed $10 billion for the first time in the last fiscal year, with iPhones accounting for the bulk of that figure.

Over the past five years, Apple has manufactured close to $70 billion worth of iPhones in India under the government’s PLI scheme, exporting roughly $51 billion of that. iPhones have since become India’s single largest exported commodity.

This is what taking a market seriously looks like. Compare that to Google, which only began manufacturing in India in 2024, on a far smaller scale and four years behind Apple. Even Google’s planned capacity of 1.2 million units comes to less than 3 percent of Apple’s annual output.

Apple also maintains a strong offline presence through its network of Authorised Resellers and Partners, and has more recently begun opening first-party stores across the country. The first two, Apple BKC and Apple Saket, were inaugurated in 2023, with then-CEO Tim Cook personally attending the event. Four more stores have opened since, with more reportedly on the way.

Google, on the other hand, doesn’t have a single retail store in the country, and Pixel phones are barely pushed offline at all. The company did launch an online Pixel Store last year, but it hasn’t taken off the way many expected.

With leaks suggesting the Pixel 11 series will cost around ₹10,000 more than last year’s models, even die-hard Pixel fans may think twice before hitting buy. If Google wants Indians to take it seriously, hiring Anil Kapoor and Ananya Panday for its ad campaigns won’t cut it. It needs to invest in India, price its phones aggressively, ensure they hold their value, and build a real presence both offline and online.