Tech giant Google has launched the new range of its Pixel phones — Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL— at an event in New York on Tuesday. The California-based company, however, said the two new Google Pixel phones will not be available in India for now. "We remain committed to our current Pixel phones and look forward to bringing future Pixel devices to India," a Google spokesperson said.

According to tech website Digit, the presence of soli radar chip inside Google Pixel 4 and XL was the reason Google decided against selling the devices in India.

The chip, as per the report, operates on the 60GHz frequency that is not allowed for public use in India. Apart from the particular chip, Google Pixel 4 and XL phones come with no other biometric authentication or security feature.

This, in turn, leaves the phone only with a pin/pattern-based unlock method leaving its security in quite a vulnerable position. So even if the company decided to sell the device after disabling the Solo radar, it will still find limited takers owing to the security concern, noted the report.

The new development highlights one of the many challenges the tech giant has faced in establishing a strong foothold in the Indian smartphone market. While, on one hand, the company devices have been hailed for their quality, especially when it comes to camera it has also been criticised for its high prices making it hard to make a deeper penetration.

"Google has a wide range of products that we make available in different regions around the world. We determine availability based on a variety of factors, including local trends, and product features," added the Google spokesperson.

According to Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Mobile Devices and Ecosystems at Counterpoint Research, India still remains an attractive market which Google needs to keep a close eye on.

"Premium segment is growing at a much faster rate than the overall market and this is, in fact, a right time to scale operations in India. Maybe Google will look at other SKUs for India market going forward like Pixel 3a," Pathak told IANS.

The Google Pixel 4 comes with a starting price tag of $799 and Pixel 4 XL for $899. The phones will ship on October 24, globally.

(With inputs from IANS)

First Published:Oct 16, 2019 9:57 AM IST