Google seems to be planning something rather special for India and Indian markets soon. The company is making an India-focused strategy to bring more products into the country including a cheaper version, or should we say a mid-range Pixel focused for price-sensitive markets. According to a report on ETech, the company is planning to bring a mid-range Pixel smartphone and other consumer products, including smart speakers, the Pixelbook and intelligent home automation products in India. The company is also planning to market them "aggressively" to take on rivals such as Apple, Samsung and Amazon. The details were shared by the executive who attended trade meetings held in Malaysia, the UK and the US last month.
Some Indian retailers too took part in some of the meets held. The company is also planning to expand distribution in the country. The mid-range Pixel is expected to be launched around July-August this year, a few months before the launch of the next version of the flagship Pixel. According to the report, one of the leading retailers who participated in the meeting said that Google is excited about the expansion of its consumer products business in India and expects that the availability of cheap 4G internet in the country will help it realise the "maximum potential" of its products in India. Another retailer who attended the meeting mentioned that the company does not want to be "over-aggressive" to chase market share. Instead, it wants to build the brand by having a sizeable retail presence in the country.
Another recent report also suggested that Google was to launch Google Home and Google Home Mini in India by the end of March. The report suggests that these smart speakers will be priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 4,499 respectively. The Google Home Mini is priced at $49 whereas the Google Home sells for $129 in the US. The smart speakers by Google will compete with existing Amazon Echo devices which are priced at Rs 4,499 (Echo Dot), Rs 9,999 (Echo) and Rs 14,999 (Echo Plus) in India.
