Is Google’s ecosystem pushing too fast? Let’s debate.

Google flooded I / O 2022 with hardware announcements. Although we already expected to see the Pixel 6a and Pixel Watch, we were surprised by the promised return to the tablet ecosystem with the Pixel Tablet. Google now has its fingers in many different pies, from smartphones to earphones, tablets to smartwatches, smart home devices to laptops and possibly even foldable devices sometime in the future.

That raises the question: Does Google get ahead of itself by pushing into new product categories all at once? Or is it finally getting serious about creating a cohesive ecosystem, one that it will be able to stick to a T? Android AuthorityAdamya and Rita present both sides of the argument.

Our guide: Everything you need to know about Google hardware

Google’s “world of help” may need its own help (Adamya)

Google did what could be expected of a large technology company of its size. It announced its entry into smartwatches and its re-entry into the Android tablet landscape. But this writer doubts whether the Mountain View giant can pull out all these new form factors and sustain them over the years, let alone push through some well-established markets that have spoiled consumers with choices today.

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has been waiting in the background for a long time to get this hardware sprayed – an Android smartwatch that works just as wonderfully with an Android phone as the Apple Watch does with the iPhone, plus the ultimate Android tablet that could become the iPad competitor we have wanted all along. But Google has a history of skipping the gun and then going back on its big promises. That’s why we have something called Google Graveyard. An eerie landscape of products like Nexus Player, Chromecast Audio, and countless others that Google was once thrilled about was then abandoned midway. It almost seems like Google is building things without a bigger vision of where they are going and then ends up killing them due to lack of commitment.

Don’t get me wrong, Google certainly has the power to do it all – and Rita will tell you why in a moment. If the last year is anything to go by, the company has proven that it can taste success in the flagship smartphone space. But its recent hardware triumphs are by no means a sign of things to come.

In 2020, a year before Pixel 6 came out, Alphabet recognized a dwindling hardware sales. And while Google is now parading its newfound victory, Pixel 6 owners are far from satisfied. Since the series’ launch in October 2021, there has been an unstoppable wave of bugs. Complaints about missed calls, broken Wi-Fi and more have flooded Reddit’s annals for months. There is even talk that the company is offering high refunds to sellers just to get the Pixel 6 out the door now.

With Pixel Watch and tablet on the horizon, Google’s software team will definitely have their hands full developing Android for large and small screens. This raises the question of whether the team will be able to deliver quality updates across devices, especially with the new products requiring more attention than existing ones.

Google neglected smartwatch software for years before Samsung came and breathed some life into the final year of Wear OS 3. The success of the Galaxy Watch 4 is excellent proof of how things should have been from the start and how Google with all its resources , could not do the Android smartwatch landscape justice for years.

Despite Samsung’s involvement, however, we have not really seen much momentum in the Wear OS 3 development. Several existing smartwatches are supposed to get the upgrade, but that has not happened so far; the new and improved Wear OS is so far only available on the Galaxy Watch 4. The Pixel Watch will be the litmus test for the software that Google has ignored for years. It’s possible that we’ll see the real wonders of Wear OS 3 on Google’s wearable, but the company’s silence about the software’s future and its spotty update history does not really inspire confidence right now.

As for the Pixel tablet, Google has been off the bus for years now. Its latest tablet – the Chrome OS-powered Pixel Slate – was released five years ago. The device had many things, but its hefty price and software flaws did not even bring it close to overturning the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Then suddenly, not so long ago in 2019, Google left the tablet market and decided instead to double its portable portfolio.

Three years later, Google is back for tablets, calling the Pixel tablet the “most helpful tablet in the world.” But I doubt that would be the case. Even Google’s more focused efforts can not convince me that it can bridge the market gap between Android tablets and iPads. Yes, it would be cool to copy things from Pixel phones to tablets and the like, but that might not be enough to get tablet buyers who can download a $ 329 iPad and know that it will take years before they have to replace it with a new. For the Pixel tablet to really take off, Google must first make sure that it fully commits to the tablet’s ecosystem and does not leave it like last time. It also needs to do more than just update its apps to scale to tablet screens.

Go further: With Android 12L, Google should lead by example

Right now, I think the whole of Google’s ecosystem promotion may be too much too fast. But my colleague Rita has some very valid points to make in favor of Google. Here’s how she feels the company will fare in her new ventures.

Everything is in place for Google’s ecosystem to finally succeed (Rita)

The pragmatic side of my brain is consistent with every single point that Adamya raised. Google has historically had Dory’s attention (of Finding Nemo and Finding Dory fame) in terms of shiny new projects. It has also been marred by bugs and issues on every single hardware and software product it has delivered. Its previous attempts to crack the tablet and wearables markets have not been very successful. And the communication between its various teams has been ridiculously poor for years; just look at the status of its messaging apps – there are six of them!

On top of all this, Google has had to balance between fighting for its own brand and keeping its partners in the broader Android ecosystem happy. If the company starts taking a bigger chunk of the cake, it could push people like Samsung or Xiaomi away, leading to more fragmentation, less market dominance and ultimately less earnings for its highly lucrative advertising business.

That’s why when I think of a cohesive ecosystem and a consolidated experience across products, Google is not the first name that comes to mind. Apple is. But that’s also exactly why I think this ecosystem push is not too much or too fast. In fact, it was just what we needed and it’s time for that to happen.

For the first time in years, it looks like Google has most of its hardware ducks in a row. Pixel 6 is the fastest selling Pixel ever and sells better than both Pixel 4 and Pixel 5 combined in less than eight months. The cheaper Pixel ‘a’ series has received positive reception for several years and has paved the way for better midrange devices across the board. With the new custom Tensor processor, impressive cameras and attractive prices, the company has a formula for success that it can repeat for several years to cement its presence in the smartphone field.

Also see: The Pixel A and Galaxy A series have ushered in the golden age of mid-range smartphones

But that’s only part of the story. The acquisition of Fitbit and the recent collaboration with Samsung on Wear OS gives it a leg up in the portable market that it did not have before. For years, it had to rely on a few third-party smartwatch manufacturers (like TicWatch) and fashion brands (like Fossil) to transform its vision into a physical product. The shift in Google’s wearables now is similar to what we saw when it moved from the Nexus brand to the Pixel brand. Now Google can shape its own vision into a product that it controls all the way.

On the software side, things are also looking up for the first time in a while. Sure, we had to say goodbye to a few beloved services and enthusiast projects, but that results in a more streamlined and focused effort for Google. We saw tablet software get some much needed attention with Android 12L, and further improvements are promised along the way. We witnessed that most of Google’s apps were updated to Material You within a few months – a similar shift used to take a few years back in the Holo and original Material Design days.

Google has also clearly improved its software-centric approach to hardware products. Thanks to quarterly Feature Drops, more AI-based camera and call features (and more) and deeper Google Assistant integration, Pixel devices keep getting better over the ownership cycle. This means a closer integration between hardware and software; the two become inseparable, in the same way as the whole Apple ethos.

Read more: It’s time to drop our fascination with the annual upgrade cycle

Google should have pushed for a more integrated Pixel ecosystem years ago, but it’s still not too late. In fact, I could argue that it is now or never. Apple has already established itself as the standard for a close-knit experience across devices, but many other Android manufacturers are also trying to build their own mini-walled gardens – Samsung with its Buds and Watch and Health platform, Xiaomi with its smart home portfolio to name a few. If Google does not offer a similar experience now, it risks losing even its most tenacious Pixel fans.

Not that the goal is to compete with Samsung or Xiaomi. I doubt that’s the case, and I doubt Google has the logistics to handle it. But in the big Android system, a number of closely related Pixel products can be the beacon that shows the way for other manufacturers and shows them what can and should be done for an optimal experience.

If a business can go from making a phone plus a few other sparse products to building a fully integrated ecosystem, it’s Google. It has the resources, it has the know-how, it seems more focused than ever, and the stars have never been as in line as they are now.

Of course, there will be countless bugs and hardware failures, and of course, they will be amplified disproportionately (like everything else Pixel-related), but when things work as they should, a Pixel ecosystem will provide a wonderful experience. And Google will learn and improve over several generations, as it has in the past. I choose to believe in a positive outcome of this endeavor. What about you?