MUMBAI: Googlewill not launch its newest Pixel 4 smartphone in India, the company has said,disappointing consumers with a decision reportedly based on its refusal todisable a feature that uses a radar frequency barred in the South Asian nation.Hours after the Alphabet-owned internet giant unveiled its latest handsetsfeaturing motion-sensing capabilities and a ramped-up camera, the firm told anIndian Twitter user the phone would not be sold in the country.
"We decidednot to make Pixel 4 available in India," Google tweeted late Tuesday froman official company account, without giving a reason for the decision. "Weremain committed to our current Pixel 3a phones and look forward to bringingfuture Pixel and other hardware products to India." The move sparkedspeculation that the new phone's motion-sensing radar technology called"Soli"-which operates on a frequency not allowed for civilian use inIndia-was responsible for the decision.
Google has touted"Motion Sense" as a key feature of the Pixel 4, which will allowusers to skip songs, turn off alarms, and silence phone calls simply by wavingtheir hands. Google's Brian Rakowski said in a statement that the feature isenabled in all the markets where the Pixel 4 will be sold, "except inJapan where it's coming soon". The statement did not say why the functionwill not be enabled at launch in Japan. Japan's Kyodo news agency reported thatMotion Sense will not be available in the country "until nextspring".
No suchindication was given for the Indian market, fuelling frustration among Pixelfans in the country. Google would have to get approval to enable theradar-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 comingto India. Why Google, why?" tweeted developer Dhimil Gosalia. Another userChitra Poornima tweeted a weeping emoji, writing: "Pixel 4 not launchingin India i was so eagerly waiting for it."
But telecomanalysts 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 inIndia," Baburajan K, editor of TelecomLead.com, said. "The Indiansmartphone market is dominated by Chinese players... with people generallybuying phones for less than 15,000 rupees ($210)," he added-less than athird of the $799 starting price for the Pixel 4 in the United States.
"Googlealready has a presence here through its Android operating system, so it doesn'tmake huge sense for them to make a big effort just to launch their phoneshere." According to the Economic Times newspaper, Google's Pixel 3 onlysold about 80,000 units in the country of 1.3 billion. -AFP