Pixel 6 Chicken and Egg Problem

I don't know if the Pixel 6 will succeed or not. But, what I do know is that it will have the best chance of succeeding and mostly because Google is actually investing heavily in advertising this time around.

However, it seems like Google is primarily interested in putting that advertising effort in because they also plan to increase the price of the phones compared to prior generation of the devices. And that is a bit of a let down because one of the main draws of Pixel devices for me has always been the price points. I mean, the main Pixel lineup has never been "cheap" or "affordable" as such, but they've also never been "flagship phone expensive". 

One has to wonder how successful a device like the Pixel 4 or 5 might have been had Google been willing to invest the advertising dollars in those products the way it is willing to do so for the Pixel 6.

And that is the problem I have. Google is upping its game because it wants to be a real contender. So, they went ahead and started building which would be a true flagship phone and then gave it a true flagship phone ad campaign. 

This is a chicken and egg problem, because in the industry it doesn't seem like a company is ever willing to do just one or the other. We assume a lesser phone would fail. But, we don't really give it the chance to succeed. This is also what killed the Windows Phone BTW. The lack of a proper ad campaign meant that people in general knew next to nothing about the devices, including those selling them, and there was no incentive to do so.

Pixel phones today sell enough units because Android in general is popular already enough to sustain a low sales volume phone line on very little advertising. But, there seems to be a faulty assumption that there wouldn't be enough of a return on investment if the company promoted the hell out of these devices. 

I mean, the fact that ANY Pixel device has EVER been considered a success on ANY level is quite remarkable. And the Pixel 4a and the Pixel 5 (in my opinion) meet that criteria. I mean the Pixel 5 is a pretty much perfect device for most Android users and the 4a is basically the best budget Android phone to date.

Now, imagine if the Pixel 6 were in the same vein as one of those phones and had decent marketing to back it up. 

The likely reason Google is pulling out the stops on the 6 however is likely because the cost and their investment are higher than in the past. So, they are willing to put themselves more in the red before it launches to increase their odds that the hardware gamble will pay off.

Don't get me wrong. I'm excited that Google is taking hardware seriously. And I'm interested to see what comes of this. But, all it tells me is that they weren't really taking the hardware seriously before and they likely could have been MUCH more successful in the more affordable phone market. It is almost like they wanted to fail so that they could justify going premium to themselves.