Google Has Big Plans For India – Smart Speakers, Laptops Coming Soon!
The company is planning to launch an all-new mid-range Pixel smartphone along with its premium Pixel smartphones which it already sells in India.
The search engine giant has been planning to foray into the Indian offline consumer market for a long time. The company is working on a number of India-focused consumer products and has big plans for the country in the next few years. Currently, Google only sells a handful of products in India with a minor market share.
The company is planning to launch an all-new mid-range Pixel smartphone along with its premium Pixel smartphones which it already sells in India. It will soon launch its smart Home speakers, premium laptop Pixelbook, intelligent home automation products and a mid-range Google smartphone in India.
The company planning to take on its international rivals – Apple, Samsung and Amazon in the country
Big Plans For India – Expanding Network
Lately, Google has been spending big on marketing and advertising in India. As it plans to open up its own stores in the country, the company is looking to expand in the offline market. Very recently, some Indian retailers took part in Google’s trade meet for its future prospects in the Indian offline market.
Google is looking for a sizeable retail presence in the country initially and gradually build its brand. The recent advent of internet penetration due to cheaper data will help Google to realise the maximum potential of the products.
The company will start with the smart Home speakers in late April. As per reports, Google will soon undertake a massive countrywide advertising campaign for its upcoming speakers. The mid-range Pixel smartphone could land in India by the end of second quarter of 2018, as the next Pixel flagship will hit the market in October.
The company will also debut into the Indian laptop space with its premium Google Pixelbook. It also plans to launch intelligent home automation products like a smart doorbell, cameras, alarm system and smoke detector, sold under its Nest brand.
The company may also launch Google WiFi in the country. Google plans to launch these products over the course of next two years.
Google Home & Home Mini Launching This Month
As it ramps up its big plans for India, Google will start with its premium Home speakers in the country. Google Home and Google Home Mini will launch in India by late April. The Google smart speakers will go against the likes of Amazon Echo Smart Speakers, which was launched in the country last year in October.
Google Assistant now supports more than 30 languages including Hindi. The speakers are compatible with over 95 percent of Android phones worldwide. With Hindi-recognition on board, Media Accounts on Google Speakers now also support Indian streaming apps like Saavn and Gaana, but voice interaction with these apps is still not available.
Users can initiate a hands-free call and set single commands like reading out the traffic situation or weather information or play an “already saved” playlist. The speakers can connect to over 1,000 smart home devices and can work with automation products like playing the music throughout the house and can trigger routines with broadcast as well.
Google Home Vs Amazon Echo
The latest updated Alexa understands English in the Indian accent, but it still does not understand or speak Hindi. So, Google Home speakers have a definite advantage over Echo with Hindi language support in India.
The prices of the upcoming Google speakers are still not out yet. In the US, the Google Home Mini ships for $49 (around Rs. 3,200) and the Google Home ships for $129 (around Rs. 8,500). Whereas, the Echo speakers are prices in India as follows;
Among the Echo speakers, the Echo Dot has been a bestseller for Amazon. If Google can price its Home Mini speaker smartly under Rs. 3,000, it can easily beat Echo Dot and some of the other bestselling speakers in the same price range.
