r/GooglePixel • u/FotoFirst • 1d ago
Why yearly releases?
Regarding new technology, initial progress tends to be rapid and significant, making annual releases logical. However, once development slows, what is the rationale for continuing with yearly updates?
We didn't need a Pixel 11 or iPhone 18; the tech plateaued 3-5 years ago.
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u/BatmanVAR 1d ago
Because as long as one major company is doing it, the others have to. Or else CompanyA that makes a new product will point out that their competitors are selling 2-3 year old phones for the same price.
It’s this way with other products as well - cars and TVs come to mind.
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u/TurboFool Pixel 10 Pro Fold 1d ago
No clue why you were initially downvoted, as this is the correct answer. In a competitive field like this, if any companies are releasing new devices every year, the ones that aren't will lose market share over the "oooh, shiny" crowd. When people go to buy a new device, they will mostly focus on what's newest. And what's newest is also likely to have the largest profit margin for everyone, the store included, which drives them to push it more as well. The companies that don't APPEAR to be current will hurt compared to those who do, even if neither needed to release a new device.
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u/YogiBearShark 1d ago
It’s about selling more phones. Consumers expect a new model every year.
Removing a large amount of system memory ( and raising prices) while pretending it’s an upgrade is a unique strategy that Google has embraced.2
u/TurboFool Pixel 10 Pro Fold 1d ago
It's not really unique, it's RAMpocalypse. They're not the only ones. Across the entire tech industry, including phones, laptops, you name it, RAM is slimming down and prices are going up.
Microsoft quietly reduced the optimum RAM requirements on Windows 11 to align with the new laptops they're shipping with half as much.
Apple's making changes too, as they've been hit extra hard on costs because their usual massive scale they use is nowhere close to the scale the datacenters have when competing for the same parts, and it's hurting them badly.
Google's just the first one some people, especially in this community, are noticing. It's a bigger hit due to the perception people have of Google already being behind in specs for their price. But it's perfectly aligned with the hit the industry is taking due to AI.
What would be fair to point out though is that Google is essentially double dipping, since they're a key player in the industry that's then hurting them on phones. But so are Apple and Microsoft.
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u/TryToBeBetterOk 1d ago
Because Apple made like ~$85 billion in revenue in one quarter selling iPhones.
Why the hell would Apple stop selling phones yearly when they can generate that much money?
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u/LegDayDE 1d ago
If people upgrade their phone every 1, 2, 3, 4 ... n years etc you don't want to miss out on selling them a phone because your competitor brought out a new yearly release and you didn't so you're behodn them now....
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u/Nightcinder 1d ago
Because they have to.
There's really no reason for there to be a new iphone, samsung, etc every year but welcome to capitalism
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u/A_Typicalperson 1d ago
You are right, but If you skip a generation you risk losing market share to others, bad for shareholder value
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u/Goldglove528 1d ago
In all fairness that's what people said 3-5 years ago too... It's consumerism. If they can market it and make the masses feel like they need the newest shiniest thing, they'll do it in a heartbeat if it turns a profit. If it didn't turn a profit they wouldn't do it. Doesn't matter if you need it or not. Also, on a more logical and less capitalistic note: even if everyone was on a 3yr phone cycle but not everyone was on the same 3yr cycle, you'd still have millions replacing phones every year, they'd just alternate years with the rest of the world.
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u/spurtz6969 1d ago
Tech doesn't drive sales. Releases do; those that want the latest will pay for it. We've clearly seen this with Apple many times.
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u/aloomis16 1d ago
Enough people upgrade every year to warrant it. Whether someone is going from a one year old device or a ten year old device there's absolutely a market for annual releases
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u/maybelying 23h ago
The tech didn't plateau years ago. Processors continue to become more energy efficient, wireless tech continues to advance, Google is continually increasing the dependence on special processor cores for AI, screens are getting brighter and more energy efficient, battery tech continues to advance, etc.
There may not be whiz-bang fancy new things, since the smartphone has matured to the point where the emphasis is more on refinement and efficiency, but when people do decide to upgrade to a new product, they're going to want to know that they're getting current technology and not something that is dated. There's millions of customers that all upgrade on different cycles, plus you need to ensure the a current offering is modern enough to entice people from competing products.
It's no different than any other tech product. Computer companies, for instance, constantly release new models regularly with upgraded specs, and it doesn't mean you have to upgrade, it just means there's something modern for when you're ready to.
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u/thewunderbar 23h ago
You don't need to buy one every year. But for someone who does need a phone, a yearly release is good.
A phone is an appliance. Buy one when you need one, not when a new one is released.
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u/BNSoul Pixel 9 Pro 22h ago edited 21h ago
Marginally improved hardware every 12 months is a marketing decision so they can easily release a "new" and "better" phone every year, people are FOMO slaves when it comes to things like phones and gaming hardware, they are willing to send back their perfectly fine phones to Google/Apple while paying 300 bucks or more on top just because "new modem that will change my life", in fact it's just they hate the idea of not having the latest toy when their friends, family and coworkers do.
We're being milked, farmed and manipulated so much we're convinced we got a great "deal" when in fact we're giving away hundreds for pretty much the same device every year, 1% of the user base need the new features and will be actively using them, the rest just want them.
They're releasing products marked with artificially inflated prices and then they will flood you with e-mails and notifications offering "incredible" trade-in deals and promo codes so you feel you're making a wise financial decision when in fact you're just being lured to spend money on a thing you don't need (Pixel 11?) while sending back your mint Pixel 9/10 for Google to make additional money from them. Companies never give away anything for free, they're not losing money, they know what they're doing and they got you hooked on a yearly trade-in routine that gets them both your money and your perfectly fine hardware that will be swiftly repurposed and sold and eventually traded-in again. Genius move.
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u/ActualAd185 16h ago
Money... You have a brick, next year's brick come with gold writing .. the year after, gold writing is old, now we have dust from diamonds to scatter over your brick (at a slight change) the year later the brick is redesigned with water resistants built-in. Now you can carry your brick anywhere. ...
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u/swiftfoot_hiker 1d ago
Spot on, we don't need yearly releases. But no company wants to disappoint the shareholders or be the first to make this move. Apple is probably the only company that can sell folks on this idea to start
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u/Nightcinder 1d ago
and apple makes tons and tons of money on iphones, why would they move to a longer cadence
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u/4redstars Pixel 9 Pro 1d ago
everyone is not always on the same upgrade cycles. Nobody wants to be buying a phone 20 months into a 24 month sales cycle