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After this week, Google looks more like Amazon and Apple
July 26, 2025
I’ve been mulling over theGoogle Pixel 3 launchthese past few days and one thing struck me more than anything else. Google looks less like the Google of old (who made Nexus phones, for example) and now looks much closer to its big rivals,AmazonandApple.
No, I’m not talking about the cliche presentation phrases, over-reliance on pop music videos, and the use of celebrity feature endorsements — although those are all terribly irritating imitations too. Google’s hardware is expensive and sleek (just look at that overpricedPixel SlatePen), but the company is finally coalescing around its core software services to offer this “Google experience,” much like Apple and Amazon.
The Pixel 3 launch event was as much about pushing subscription services as it was about pitching new hardware. Google Maps, Photos, and even YouTube have always been a pre-installed and useful extra part of Android, but they’ve never been a core selling point for a product. This time, Google didn’t even really mention Android during the presentation, but its subscription apps came up a lot. Not just for the Pixel 3 but across the Pixel Slate andHome Hubtoo. The event was an ecosystem pitch.
Perhaps in the modern hyper-competitive hardware market, software and subscription-based products are one of the few highly profitable section of the market left. Apple has been making plenty of money from app and subscription sales in the past few years and Microsoft too has gradually switched over to a focus on a broader platform over individual products.
The race for the smart home makes the ecosystem game paramount. Familiar voice assistants and cross-platform services are often the deciding factors when picking a platform. Part of the reason Google managed to close the gap on Amazon’s early lead is that consumers useGoogle Assistanton their phone rather thanAlexa. With Maps, YouTube, Photos, Nest, and more functionality shared across platforms, the choice for Android users seems obvious.
Google’s vision for its products and technologies is clearly growing distinct from Android’s original purpose, yet the operating system is still key for most of the industry’ssmartphone,smartwatch, andsmart homeproducts. This could lead to trouble. Samsung is never going to embrace Nest on behalf of Google over itsSmartThingsplatform, for example, and there’s already clearly tension between Assistant andBixby. So where does this leave the Android/partner relationship going forward?
We appear closer than ever to a fork in the road.Android 9.0 Pierepresents the closest melding yet between Google Assistant and the Android operating system. Assistant is Google’s key technology unifying all of its and many third-party products. However, it’s unclear how keen some of Android’s larger partners are on this being a core part of their products too, especially now that Google is using Assistant as a hook into its wider product portfolio. Also, how much Google do we as consumers really want in our Android products?
I asked this question shortly after the presentation — does the Pixel 3 showcase the best of Android or the best of Google? I think it’s an important distinction. Google seems to be shifting from simple OS curator to an Amazon or Apple-eqsue ecosystem player.
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