Google's New Hardware Strategy: Actually Make Money

Technology companies like to cite computer scientist Alan Kay's famous quote that "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware." These days, Google's motto could be, "People who are really serious about AI should make their own hardware--and sell it at a premium." That appears to be the strategy behind the Pixel, the first Google-designed smartphone, which was released on October 20. Prior to the Pixel, Google offered a series of Nexus-branded smartphones that it developed with smartphone makers and sold online, at prices that essentially covered its costs. But while the Nexus phones supported the company's primary business of online advertising by getting more people to use Google services, the Pixel seems to be geared toward monetizing Google's AI initiatives, specifically its efforts to build a virtual assistant that will act as a user's "own personal Google" and provide a consistent experience across an entire line of Google-designed gadgets.