I think Google is trying to go after the premium segment and try to achieve Apple-like margins by focusing on software. If you look at the the phone specs you'l

I think Google is trying to go after the premium segment and try to achieve Apple-like margins by focusing on software. If you look at the the phone specs you'll be completely unimpressed with the Pixel phones. Plenty of cheaper phones have better specs. This is why the Android phone market is so brutal: most OEMs are undifferentiated and are being squeezed because consumers largely see them as interchangeable. Google is the exception to this. So I don't think evaluating them purely on volume is a correct way to assess the health of their business.