Soon after the
Samsung Galaxy Note 7 debacle wnet viral, it’s
Google who is leveraging the opportunity like nobody else – at least in India. With it’s strategies in full throttle, Google will be retailing it’s new phone,
Google Pixel through brick and mortar stores. As per reports, Google will now directly sell its new smartphone through at least seven prominent large-format retail stores in India, besides multi-brand stores.
Google is expected to start with at least 1 lakh devices and make its presence felt at India’s premium smartphone market. Google had introduced Nexus earlier but that were retailed through a third party manufacturer like
LG.
With the festive seasons in mind, when people love splurging on consumer durables, Google wants to go over the top with marketing new Pixel. At Rs 30,000 plus segment of Indian smart phones,
Samsung is trying hard to forget the Galaxy Note 7 debacle and
Apple has already shipped above a lakh of
iPhone 7.
The booking of Google Pixel began on October 13 through
Flipkart and offline retailers.
"It's a shift of strategy (for Google), as it follows the make-your-ownphone plans, but it's also required,"
Santosh Desai, managing director of
Future Brands told the
Economic Times. "Google is going up against formidable brands, so it can't go half-way on end-consumer communication...the Samsung (incident) opens up the opportunity for Google vs Apple, so all the more reason for them to go full throttle."
The base model of Pixel is priced at Rs 57,000.