Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is working on an upgraded Pixel smartphone line that will debut in the fall.
The upgrade will try to gain a foothold against Apple's iPhone (NASDAQ: AAPL), which still dominates the market. While Google's Pixel phones have been critically acclaimed as the best Android-based devices, they have thus far failed to make a major sales or revenue splash, lagging behind both Apple and Samsung Electronics Co (KRX: 005930). Google shipped fewer than 4 million phones in 2017, compared with the 216 million iPhones Apple shipped in the same timeframe.
XDA Developers, a mobile software development forum, has reported some of the specs of the Pixel 3 and its larger, more powerful sibling, the Pixel 3 XL. The Pixel 3 XL will have a Active Edge, a design feature that includes an edge-to-edge screen, a thick bezel at the bottom of the phone, and a notch or cutout at the top. Developers can create apps and interfaces that rely on the cutout using the new Android P operating system. The smaller Pixel 3 will not include these features and will look similar to a Pixel 2. Both models will include an upgraded camera, and may forgo wireless charging (Google introduced wireless charging but dropped it in 2015 with its Nexus 6P model).
While the changes expected to be released in the fall are focused on hardware, Google has longer-term plans to release an upgraded Android system that incorporates improved artificial intelligence features. It's expected that Google will raise the price of the devices, which might prove problematic since rival Apple is rumored to be developing significantly cheaper iPhone models that will draw consumers away from Pixels.
Because the devices are still in development, plans could change before the phones are released, and Google has not officially commented on the new products.
Google will again partner with Verizon Wireless Inc. (NYSE: VZ), which has been its exclusive carrier since the Pixel was introduced three years ago. But Google may change its manufacturer to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn (TPE: 2354), the same company that assembles iPhones. Google acquired parts of HTC Corp. earlier this year, including an engineering team devoted to hardware and software development for devices.