Nanda Ramachandran, Google's vice president of mobile phones, said the company has no plans to launch a line of low-cost Pixel smartphones.
Ramachandran said in a statement to the Austrian newspaper Standard that Google will have to "make a lot of concessions" if it wants to offer low-cost devices.
Ramachandran noted that it is difficult to bring a device with artificial intelligence, a good camera, and a secure operating system to the market for $200 without making any compromises.
It is noteworthy that Google itself requested cheap smartphones for its customers in developing countries, and developed a custom operating system for them called “Android One,” which later became known as “Android Go.” Updates depend heavily on export companies, and with these phones many of them use relatively old versions of the operating system instead of Google, and they are also vulnerable to security problems.
Google recently announced the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones, whose prices start at $700 and $1,000, respectively. It also launched earlier this year the foldable Pixel Fold phone at a starting price of $1,800.
According to reports, Google will launch the Pixel 8a mobile phone in the middle of next year. As a cheaper alternative to the new Pixel 8, its price should not be less than the current Pixel 7a. Which equals up to $500.
Google promised to provide all updates and spare parts for the new Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones for a period of seven years, which could also apply to all upcoming devices.