The partnership between Samsung and Google has been going on for a long time. Their connection was highlighted at the Made by Google event in 2024, which saw many of the advanced features coming to Galaxy phones, such as Circle to Search and even Gemini Live, which were available to Galaxy users before the Pixel 9 series. They maintain a healthy competition and continue to work on projects like Wear OS. Although the tech giant is working hard on the recent Pixel 9 series in particular, it is struggling to get into the top five global smartphone brands in terms of market share. Google executives recently revealed details about Pixel owners and where they come from.

Google manager reveals that Google Pixel users rarely switch from Samsung devices

Although Google and Samsung have partnered on several occasions despite their competitive nature, the Google executive detailed the partnership in an interview and gave us further insight into broader trends in the tech industry. Even though Google hasn’t managed to capture the largest market share in the smartphone industry globally yet, the company has a loyal user base. And while you might assume that some of that comes from Samsung users switching to Pixel phones, that’s not the case.

In an extensive interview with Stratechery, which also touched on various other topics, Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President of Devices and Services at Google, when asked about Pixel device owners and where they came from, said that Samsung is not behind many Pixel owners as users rarely switch from Samsung to Pixel. This comes as a surprise to many as Samsung is a global brand with a large number of users all over the world and one would naturally be inclined to think that Pixel owners may have owned a Samsung device before.

The interviewer from Google’s executive level then asked a follow-up question about where Pixel owners come from if not Samsung phones first. We were then given a detailed explanation that they mainly come from Apple devices and those who are no longer in the smartphone market. He highlighted:

They come from a lot of people, some of whom have left the market, and then also from Apple, but ultimately we’re trying to increase Android’s market share overall, and that’s my main goal: to improve Android’s competitiveness, increase our innovation, and improve the problems we can solve for users at all levels. But we certainly had problems in the premium space that we want to address.

This is further underlined by the growing popularity of Google Pixel phones in Japan, as local brands find it difficult to stay in the smartphone industry and they exit, as was the case with Kyocera in Japan. In the US, however, Google experienced a massive growth spurt with the exit of LG. iPhone users were also targeted by Google marketing campaigns, and the churn could be due to the trade-in offers offered to switch over.

Google is actively working to improve the issues with the Pixel phones, focusing in particular on introducing more innovations and making the user experience more seamless. To massively improve performance, the company intends to introduce a TSMC chip in 2025, which could lead to more attractive features and stronger performance, appealing to a wider range of potential buyers.