On the eve of the new product launch conference on August 12, Google hardware business executives have clearly confirmed that due to the continued rise in hardware production costs, the new generation of Pixel series smartphones that will be unveiled globally will see an overall price increase, and existing models will not be immune.
Shakil Barkat, vice president of devices and services at Google, said that like other consumer electronics giants, Google is currently under unprecedented supply chain cost pressure, especially the unprecedented surge in memory chip prices. Although the company has long been committed to protecting consumers from price fluctuations through internal digestion, the current industry economic environment has fundamentally changed, making it unsustainable to continue to maintain the original pricing strategy.
Based on this background, Google's entire product line, including the new Pixel 11 series and Pixel 10a, will undergo dynamic price adjustments to adapt to the current market supply. Barkat also pointed out that Google will provide a series of preferential subsidies and trade-in policies in the future to reduce the impact of price fluctuations on consumer purchase experience.
Relevant leaked information in the industry shows that the starting prices of the flagship Pixel 11 Pro XL and the folding screen model Pixel 11 Pro Fold are expected to increase by US$100. Although the standard version of Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro maintain the same price positioning as the previous generation for the 256GB version, they have directly canceled the original 128GB entry configuration, raising the purchase threshold in disguise. In addition, in order to balance production costs, the running memory configuration of Pixel 11 Pro may be reduced from 16GB of the previous generation to 12GB.