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Google Pixel was the only smartphone brand that didn’t shrink in North America in Q2

While Google Pixel remains an ultimately pretty small player in the smartphone market, it’s clear that Google is gaining traction. Case in point, in Q2 of 2023, Google Pixel was the only brand that experienced growth in the North American market.

In a new report from Canalys looking at smartphone shipments in North America in Q2 2023, Google Pixel shipments were up to 1.2 million units. That’s up just shy of 60% from the 800,000~ units shipped in Q2 2022. That doubled Google’s market share in North America to 4%, too.

Meanwhile, every other smartphone brand in the top five experienced a drop in shipments year-over-year. Samsung and Motorola both saw around 25% dips in shipments, while TCL dropped by 30%. Even Apple saw a 20% drop in shipments. While that’s not exactly cause for alarm – Apple still shipped a whopping 14.8 million devices in the quarter, which is more than every other Android brand combined for a 54% share of the market – it does show that Google seems to be seeing some real growth.

This is especially notable as the smartphone market in North America dropped as a whole by 12% during 2023 so far when compared to 2022.

Canalys expects the next few months to see these numbers go back up on the backs of the iPhone 15 lineup and Samsung’s new foldables that launched in August, with Google Pixel “keeping up.”

We expect Apple’s iPhone 15 portfolio and Samsung’s Galaxy Fold5 and Flip5 will stimulate premium segment consumer upgrades for carriers. Brands such as Google Pixel and Motorola, which have been keeping up with the premiumization game with their flagship foldable devices this year, will further sweeten the holiday deals that hit the market in November and December.

Google should also probably see a boost through October and the end of the year with its new Pixel 8 series, set to debut on October 4.

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Avatar for Ben Schoon Ben Schoon

Ben is a Senior Editor for 9to5Google.

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