MUMBAI: Google
will not launch its newest Pixel 4 smartphone in India, the company has said,
disappointing consumers with a decision reportedly based on its refusal to
disable a feature that uses a radar frequency barred in the South Asian nation.
Hours after the Alphabet-owned internet giant unveiled its latest handsets
featuring motion-sensing capabilities and a ramped-up camera, the firm told an
Indian Twitter user the phone would not be sold in the country.

"We decided
not to make Pixel 4 available in India," Google tweeted late Tuesday from
an official company account, without giving a reason for the decision. "We
remain committed to our current Pixel 3a phones and look forward to bringing
future Pixel and other hardware products to India." The move sparked
speculation that the new phone's motion-sensing radar technology called
"Soli"-which operates on a frequency not allowed for civilian use in
India-was responsible for the decision.

Google has touted
"Motion Sense" as a key feature of the Pixel 4, which will allow
users to skip songs, turn off alarms, and silence phone calls simply by waving
their hands. Google's Brian Rakowski said in a statement that the feature is
enabled in all the markets where the Pixel 4 will be sold, "except in
Japan where it's coming soon". The statement did not say why the function
will not be enabled at launch in Japan. Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that
Motion Sense will not be available in the country "until next
spring".

No such
indication was given for the Indian market, fuelling frustration among Pixel
fans in the country. Google would have to get approval to enable the
radar-based function in every country where it wants to sell the Pixel 4,
according to the technology website The Verge. "Have every Google 'made'
device since Nexus one. But sadly this is the year to move away from the
@madebygoogle brand, guess why? @GoogleIndia does not want the Pixel 4 coming
to India. Why Google, why?" tweeted developer Dhimil Gosalia. Another user
Chitra Poornima tweeted a weeping emoji, writing: "Pixel 4 not launching
in India i was so eagerly waiting for it."

But telecom
analysts said Google's decision was understandable given Indian consumers'
overwhelming preference for lower-priced smartphones over premium brands.
"Neither Google nor Apple feature among the top five phone brands in
India," Baburajan K, editor of TelecomLead.com, said. "The Indian
smartphone market is dominated by Chinese players... with people generally
buying phones for less than 15,000 rupees ($210)," he added-less than a
third of the $799 starting price for the Pixel 4 in the United States.

"Google
already has a presence here through its Android operating system, so it doesn't
make huge sense for them to make a big effort just to launch their phones
here." According to the Economic Times newspaper, Google's Pixel 3 only
sold about 80,000 units in the country of 1.3 billion. -AFP