Because consumers had talked after lukewarm reception from Pixel buyers. They also removed "original quality storage" after Pixel 3, pixel 4 didn't have a fing

Because consumers had talked after lukewarm reception from Pixel buyers. They also removed "original quality storage" after Pixel 3, pixel 4 didn't have a fingerprint sensor in favor of face sensor (terrible idea) and 5, if I'm not mistaken, was not a flagship. Google had a great product that was different and slowly nerfed it. Now it's just one more competitor but nothing to write home about. They lost a lot of consumer loyalty of the users who wouldn't have ever considered an iPhone (walled garden) in the first place.