Pixel 9a has me convinced that Apple needs to follow Google to return to glory

After some stumbles and false starts, Google brought us Pixel, the first smartphone brand created entirely by the company. The Mountain View giant had the advantage of being in charge of both hardware and software, a distinction that previously belonged to Apple. Google doubled down on the strategy by ditching Qualcomm Snapdragon for in-house Tensor chipsets, leading many to dub Pixel the iPhone of Android.

Google may be a long way off from having the same level of popularity as Apple in the smartphone space, but the lacklustre iPhone 16 launch is proof that it’s on the right track and the rival it looked up to might have lost its way.

Leaked photos of the Pixel 9a have solidified my belief that Google is not afraid to take risks, which is often what separates winners from losers.

Reinventing itself

The Pixel 9a is rumored to shed the horizontal camera bar that in recent years has become an integral part of the brand’s identity. It made Pixel phones instantly recognisable and made them look different in a sea of phones that mostly went for vertically stacked cameras.