Why just Verizon

Ry

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If this has been asked in the past I apologize. I was wondering why Pixel only deals with Verizon? As an AT&T subscriber I have to buy an unlocked phone. Will there ever be a chance to see Google work with other networks?

That's for Google to answer.

But I think it came down to:

- Google may not want to go that wide with distribution channels at this time
- unlocked is irrelevant in the US, you make waves with a carrier partnership here
- Verizon is probably paying for the exclusive
- Google and Verizon have history that includes of working together with original DROID (2.0) and Xoom (3.0) with Motorola which for all intents and purposes were Nexus devices without the Nexus name
- Verizon is the number one carrier in the US
 

Lilybell2

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I'm only guessing, but one major obstacle may be the issue of updates. Verizon evidently has no problem with Google handling the updates for the Pixel phones, and there's no big red "V" plastered on Pixel phones sold by Verizon. That might be viewed as a roadblock by some carriers, particularly those that customarily have a proprietary version of Android, replete with bloat, installed on the carrier branded phones they sell, a version that can only receive updates OTA via that carrier's network, and only while the phone is using an active customer account on that particular carrier's network.
 

Nubwy

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Verizon simply isn't a good business partner on an ethical or cultural level. I tried to buy a Pixel 2 from them and they flat out lied and said they cannot sell one, just to take it to use on another carrier. I asked if I had to go through the activation process at the very least, and brought up the most recent article on VZW locking phones down, and he said that they're not allowed to sell phones unlocked anymore. VZW hasn't even issued a date as to when they will require 40 days service for all their phones yet!

Went to a local Target, bought a Verizon Pixel 2, put my SIM card in and has been fine ever since.

Their sales associates are very shady and I've had similar experiences with this in the past. One of the many reasons Big Red and I parted ways.
 

hallux

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I'm only guessing, but one major obstacle may be the issue of updates. Verizon evidently has no problem with Google handling the updates for the Pixel phones, and there's no big red "V" plastered on Pixel phones sold by Verizon.

Which is a complete 180 from what it used to be. It used to be that Verizon wouldn't sell a device if it wasn't allowed to plaster the red V on it and control the update process. This is one reason Verizon lost the race for the initial iPhone release.
 

Ry

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Verizon simply isn't a good business partner on an ethical or cultural level. I tried to buy a Pixel 2 from them and they flat out lied and said they cannot sell one, just to take it to use on another carrier. I asked if I had to go through the activation process at the very least, and brought up the most recent article on VZW locking phones down, and he said that they're not allowed to sell phones unlocked anymore. VZW hasn't even issued a date as to when they will require 40 days service for all their phones yet!

Went to a local Target, bought a Verizon Pixel 2, put my SIM card in and has been fine ever since.

Their sales associates are very shady and I've had similar experiences with this in the past. One of the many reasons Big Red and I parted ways.

Anyone can have a similar experience with any other carrier.
 

Almeuit

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Verizon simply isn't a good business partner on an ethical or cultural level. I tried to buy a Pixel 2 from them and they flat out lied and said they cannot sell one, just to take it to use on another carrier. I asked if I had to go through the activation process at the very least, and brought up the most recent article on VZW locking phones down, and he said that they're not allowed to sell phones unlocked anymore. VZW hasn't even issued a date as to when they will require 40 days service for all their phones yet!

Went to a local Target, bought a Verizon Pixel 2, put my SIM card in and has been fine ever since.

Their sales associates are very shady and I've had similar experiences with this in the past. One of the many reasons Big Red and I parted ways.
Actually they didn't lie.. if you aren't a Verizon customer they won't sell you a phone even at full price.

That isn't a Verizon thing FYI. All carriers do this. I don't have T-Mobile service so if I went to buy one of their phones full price from a store they wouldn't let me either. That's very common.
 

MikeC01

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The one thing I want to add to this conversation is that . . . a lot of the less tech savvy folks see the ads from Verizon and assume that the phone only works on that network. IMO, this partnership holds back sales of the phone.
 

Mike Dee

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The one thing I want to add to this conversation is that . . . a lot of the less tech savvy folks see the ads from Verizon and assume that the phone only works on that network. IMO, this partnership holds back sales of the phone.

Good point but I'm sure being partnered with Verizon gets them more sales then the sales they lose.
 

MikeC01

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Good point but I'm sure being partnered with Verizon gets them more sales then the sales they lose.

If you are only going to partner with one carrier, then certainly the largest one in the country is the smartest one to partner with. However, it also seems to me that a lot of people on this forum who went in looking for pixels were told by Verizon salespeople to buy iPhones instead. So, I'm not entirely sure how helpful this partnership is to Google.
 

Mike Dee

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If you are only going to partner with one carrier, then certainly the largest one in the country is the smartest one to partner with. However, it also seems to me that a lot of people on this forum who went in looking for pixels were told by Verizon salespeople to buy iPhones instead. So, I'm not entirely sure how helpful this partnership is to Google.

I'm not doubting that happens but I doubt the magnitude of how often that happens. A lot of people that I know in these forums didn't walk into a Verizon store to buy it. I ordered mine directly from Google as did many others and others ordered directly from Verizon online. While waiting for my phone to arrive I went in to the Verizon store to look at the device in three different stores because of all the reported blueshift and not once did anyone try to sell me anything.
 

Ry

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If you are only going to partner with one carrier, then certainly the largest one in the country is the smartest one to partner with. However, it also seems to me that a lot of people on this forum who went in looking for pixels were told by Verizon salespeople to buy iPhones instead. So, I'm not entirely sure how helpful this partnership is to Google.

If you're on this forum and buying a Pixel from Verizon, you're going to ignore a saleperson's pitch for another phone.

I'm curious - are there significant examples of this? I haven't seen these "they told me to buy an iPhone instead" posts.

The only time I could see that happening was with the first Pixels and their limited stock.
 

Almeuit

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If you are only going to partner with one carrier, then certainly the largest one in the country is the smartest one to partner with. However, it also seems to me that a lot of people on this forum who went in looking for pixels were told by Verizon salespeople to buy iPhones instead. So, I'm not entirely sure how helpful this partnership is to Google.
This forum represents a very small amount of smartphone users in the grand scheme of things.

Sure some will be held back by that but the sales generated from the advertising and store placement outweigh the few that are confused.