Samsung has been a key partner for Google since the early days of Android. Their partnership is still going strong, with several Google features debuting on Galaxy phones. Circle to Search arrived on the Galaxy S24 series before any other Android phone, including the Pixel lineup. Gemini Live is also rolling out to Galaxy users before Google opens Pixel 9 sales.
The two companies have worked closely on other projects too, including Wear OS and Android Auto. This is despite their competing against each other in several product categories, including phones, foldables, watches, and earbuds. Senior Google executive Rick Osterloh recently shed light on this complex partnership that reflects the broader dynamics of the tech industry.
Samsung users rarely switch to Pixel, Osterloh revealed
Following the Pixel 9 launch, Rick Osterloh, the Senior Vice President of Devices & Services at Google, sat for an interview with Ben Thompson. They discussed a wide range of things, from the Olympics and NBA to BlackBerry, Symbian OS, and more. The lengthy interview revealed Google’s early thoughts when entering the hardware business, eventually coming to the Samsung partnership.
Osterloh was asked about Google’s decision to bring the Pixel and Android divisions together for deeper hardware-software integration, and whether it affected their partnership with the world’s biggest Android vendor. After all, the Android team that Samsung worked with now had its own hardware line. The Google SVP said they never changed their strategy for the Korean firm.
“When we work with Samsung, we work with them very closely and we work with them as we did,” he stated. While Google has its ambitions for Pixel phones, it doesn’t let those come between their partnership. “We wanted to have a Google-branded experience too and make that another good choice for people looking for a premium phone,” Osterloh said about Google’s hardware goal.
This led to an interesting conversation. “At the end of the day, aren’t Pixel users coming from Samsung?” Thompson asked. “Actually very few of them,” the Google executive replied. “They’re coming from a large number of people, some of whom left the market and then also from Apple but ultimately, we think what we’re trying to do is we’re trying to gain Android share overall.”
Google plans to improve its premium Pixel models, the Pro and Pro XL. “My principal goal is to try to improve Android competitiveness, improve our innovation, improve the problems we’re able to solve for users at all tiers,” Osterloh said. “But we’ve certainly had issues in the premium space that we want to try to address.” Google’s coming for your Ultra flagship, Samsung!
