Pixel 6a led to significant growth for Google's hardware department in terms of revenues this year

Google announced the Pixel 6a in May this year and then launched the device in July. It turns out the device is proving extremely successful and profitable for the tech giant. [caption id=“attachment_11513551” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] One of the reasons why Pixel 6a was so successful was because of Google’s aggressive pricing, and the constant discounts that were put on the device. Image Credit: Google[/caption] During Alphabet’s Q3 2022 Earnings Call, Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat credited the Pixel 6a as being primarily responsible for solid growth in hardware revenues. Google’s Hardware Revenue, like from the sales of Pixel 6a , is reported as part of “Google other” revenues with $6.895 billion in Q2 2022 compared to $6.754 billion in the same quarter in 2021.   That category includes paid YouTube subscriptions, with Porat similarly crediting YouTube Music Premium and YouTube TV for delivering ongoing strong growth.   Earlier in the call, Sundar Pichai said that Google “recently had [its] highest selling week ever for Pixel” in reference to the 7 and 7 Pro. In February, the CEO previously touted a “quarterly sales record” for Pixel phones after the 6 and 6 Pro launch. Pichai also stated that Google Hardware is an important area of investment for the tech giant. They are investing deeply from the silicon to the OS to powerful software experiences, because “it’s a big opportunity to move computing forward and build deeper relationships with people who love using Google products. It also really helps to guide the Android ecosystem beyond just building the underlying platform.” Another aspect that has helped Google may have to do with the fact that the Pixel 6a was the first Google device that was being sold in a number of countries, after a long hiatus. Furthermore, unlike its predecessors, the Pixel 6a was priced very competitively and was actually affordable.   On top of the original pricing, Google had started dishing out discounts very aggressively, as well. For example, in India, the device has an MRP of Rs 43,999 but it is easily available on Flipkart, Google’s e-commerce partner for as low as Rs 34,199.