Google shipped nearly 900K Pixel Watches in 2022, sources claim

Smartwatches are gaining skyrocketing popularity among users. Google made its way into the smartwatch space with the Pixel Watch not long ago. The American tech firm has been leaving no stone unturned to give Pixel Watch owners a superior user experience.

To recall, the company rolled out the first update for the watch featuring improved Fitbit integration and multiple bug fixes last year. Moreover, Google added a new sleep feature for Fitbit Premium subscribers with a Pixel Watch update.

Newfangled smartwatches boast an impressive array of features that support awe-inspiring functionalities. For instance, these wearables support mobile payments and track the wearer's heart rate and overall fitness. Users can also set reminders, make calls, and send messages using their smartwatches without taking out their smartphones, thanks to voice assistants like Google Assistant and Siri. These features aren't available on traditional watches.

So, smartwatches come in handy for staying connected and monitoring the wearer's health and fitness. In 2022, Google unveiled its maiden smartwatch, dubbed the Pixel Watch, which floated around the rumour mill several months before its launch. Some sources, via GizmoChina, have confirmed that the search engine giant shipped 880,000 Pixel watches in the last quarter of 2022.

To those unaware, there's a big difference between the number of units a company ships and the number of units it manages to sell. The number of units shipped refers to the number of devices a company sends to a retailer for selling. In other words, it does not refer to the number of devices a company sells to consumers. This is still pretty impressive, given that there was an 18 per cent decline in the wearable market compared to the previous year.

Unsurprisingly, Google bagged the second spot in the list of the highest smartwatch shipments. This is also understandable since there was a lot of hype surrounding Google's first-ever smartwatch. Moreover, there was a massive drop in the sales of Samsung Galaxy Watches at the time. On the other hand, Apple shipped 12 million Apple Watch in the same period.

Nevertheless, Google's numbers are still outstanding, considering it was a new device that went official last quarter. The Pixel Watch sports an eye-catching circular glass display with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on top. Moreover, the watch is housed in a stainless-steel case. However, it is smaller than most premium smartwatches available in the market.

The Pixel Watch case is 12.3mm thin and measures 41mm. It is also super lightweight, weighing only 32 grams without the straps. So, the Pixel Watch is ideal for those who have small wrists. Under the hood, the Pixel Watch packs an older Exynos 9110 chip from Samsung. The chip was last used to power up the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3.

Aside from this, it uses a Cortex M33 co-processor to extend the battery life. The watch ships with 2GB of RAM and has 32GB of storage. Some reports suggest that Google is already working on the Pixel Watch 2. The Pixel Watch successor is expected to offer major improvements in the specifications department.

According to a report by Android Authority, the Google Pixel Watch 2 could go official soon. Apple and Samsung have a reputation for releasing the new generation smartwatch annually to stay relevant. Also, this timeframe gives the companies a chance to integrate the most useful tech in their smart wearables.

It is unclear whether Google will follow in the footsteps of Apple and Samsung. The report suggests the company could take the wraps off the Pixel Watch 2 in October. Notably, Google launched the original Pixel Watch alongside the Pixel 7 series smartphones. So, it is safe to assume that the Pixel Watch 2 could debut at the Pixel 8 series launch event.

We might glimpse the Pixel Watch 2 during the Google I/O conference, which kicks off on May 10.