Alphabet – the parent company of Google – had its first quarter earnings call yesterday while its growth had been the slowest of the last 3 years. Some investors are worried and Google CEO Sundar Pichai has had to answer tough questions about the company's outlook on hardware. An analyst even went so far as to compare Pixel phones with the unsuccessful range of smartphones from Microsoft.

According to Ruth Porat, Chief Financial Officer of Alphabet, "the recent pressure on the high-end smartphone market" is behind lower-than-expected pixel sales. It was not accurate, but we can assume that it means increased competition and lower interest from consumers who want to book a large sum of money and keep their phone longer. This could also be due to the notch of the big notch on the Pixel 3 XL and important frames on the smaller model, while other companies offer more inventive and attractive designs that cost much less.

Despite weak Pixel sales, Google's hardware division is growing revenue – $ 5.5 billion in the first quarter of 2019 – but it will have to do even better to convince analysts and investors that it can potentially generate consistent earnings against investors. decrease in advertising revenue.

Pichai insisted that Google is participating in the long haul and that the announcement of Pixel 3a and 3a XL to I / O next month would be the next phase of the long-term strategy. If you fail to sell enough high-end phones, mid-range variants with the same camera technology and a headphone jack will do the trick. We've also seen the recently disclosed Nest Hub Max make an appearance at I / O as part of the company's broader material plans for 2019.