With the announcement of the new Pixel devices yesterday, Google embarked on its new mobile strategy which has been carefully crafted by the company to blend the best of their software with some of the best hardware available. For those who don’t know, the newly announced Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL are the first devices to come with Google’s own virtual assistant integrated into the software, along with what is claimed to be the best smartphone camera ever and the latest version of Android, version 7.1 (Nougat).
As part of the new strategy, Google has removed all references to any third party companies, in this case, HTC who are the actual manufacturers of the Pixel lineup. Now, although the devices may not be manufactured by Google itself, everything from the design to the software is Google’s own creation. But when it comes to the hardware inside, the company has had to rely on other companies’ products, something it seems that they aren’t completely happy about. In an interview with Bloomberg, David Burke, the head of Android, has revealed a few plans for Google’s hardware division and its future devices. Burke confirmed that Google is developing its own custom silicon, which would essentially reduce Google’s reliance on other manufacturers such as Qualcomm and Samsung, though it’s currently unknown if Google is planning their own CPU, GPU or maybe even both. The important thing is that Google is hard at work on it, so it’s likely that the new silicon will be used in any future Pixel devices.
As well as new Silicon, Burke says that by designing the devices on their own they are able to plan ahead in order to better optimize everything from software to hardware, something that is similar to what Apple can do with its iPhone lineup and iOS. All of this, combined with Google’s marketing power is what they hope will eventually lead to the Pixel lineup being a worthy iPhone or Galaxy S line competitor. This strategy of developing products significantly ahead of time may not only be applied to smartphones, though. Google may decide to use this strategy for any of their products, ranging from new Chromecasts to their own Wifi routers. It will also let the company plan a long-term roadmap for devices. Only time will tell if Google’s own development plans and custom components will pay off in the long run.