Google follows Apple's lead, can its self-developed SoC keep Pixel alive?

Author | Xiao Man

Google can no longer sit still when it comes to developing its own SoC.

This year, the launch of Apple's M1 chip has caused a stir in the technology circle, and Bloomberg recently exposed Apple's new ARM architecture Mac chip, which can be said to be striking while the iron is hot.

However, Google in the Android camp is not idle either.

According to foreign media reports, Google's self-developed SoC chip "Whitechapel" may be released next year, and it will not only be installed on Pixel, but may also be used in Chromebook.

According to the information that has been exposed, Whitechapel is a self-developed processor chip by Google and Samsung, based on the ARM instruction set architecture, with an 8-core CPU design and a 5nm process.

Not only that, the chip also integrates Google's TPU neural network acceleration unit, which can improve Google Assistant and better support AI and machine learning related functions such as "always-on".

According to reports, Whitechapel has been successfully taped out. Generally speaking, it takes about a year from tape-out to commercial use. Based on this, if everything goes well, Whitechapel is expected to be installed in Pixel phones in 2021.

It is worth noting that Google's self-developed Whitechapel is not only used for Pixel, its subsequent versions may also be installed on Chromebooks.

Although Whitechapel has not yet been released, judging from the strength of Google's previous self-developed chips, Whitechapel is worth looking forward to.

Judging from the time when Pixel was equipped with self-developed chips, Google has successively launched AI chips Pixel Visual Core, Titan M security chip, Soli radar chip, etc., respectively:

• Pixel Visua Core is essentially an AI chip that assists in acceleration. It was first installed in Pixel 2. Its most direct use is to improve the Pixel phone's photo-taking experience in HDR+.

• Titan M is also a chip specially designed by Google for smartphones, focusing on security. It is mainly installed on Pixel 3 and Pixel 4.

• The Soli sensor was first demonstrated in 2015 and has gone through several iterations before being integrated into the Pixel 4, giving it the Motion Sense feature, combining unique software algorithms with advanced hardware sensors.

It is not difficult to see that Google has spared no effort in the research and development of auxiliary chips, and the power of its chips also gives Pixel unique product features.

Taking Titan M as an example, Titan M can not only be used to protect the Android operating system and its functional integrity, but also to protect third-party applications and security-sensitive transactions. Titan M itself is also secure; it can be said that the security of hardware products is guaranteed from multiple levels.

Simha Sethumadhavan, a computer scientist at Columbia University, once gave this comment on Titan M:

I think it's really remarkable that Google has made this level of hardware improvement. It's much harder to make a breakthrough than software protection, much more difficult.

However, although the chip is powerful, the sales performance of Pixel is not proportional to its chip strength.

Currently, the Pixel series has been released to Pixel 5, but Google has always remained silent about the specific sales of Pixel. Although Google has not spoken, relevant organizations and media are very interested in it.

In March 2017, media reported that Pixel's full-year sales in 2016 were 552,000 units - in comparison, Apple's mobile phone sales in the fourth quarter of 2016 were 78 million units.

With Pixel 2, sales began to improve, perhaps due to the improvement of supply chain capabilities and the support of Pixel Visual Core. IDC data shows that the sales of Pixel series phones reached 3.9 million units in 2017.

Later, Google launched the Pixel 3 and Pixel 4 series, which still failed to make a splash in the mobile phone market. Instead, the cheaper version of Pixel 3a stimulated sales, but that was only a short-term "really good" effect brought about by the price.

However, from another perspective, if you compare it only with itself, Google has made some progress. According to data from research firm IDC, Google shipped 7.2 million Pixel phones in 2019, a year-on-year increase of 52%, setting a new record.

However, this "historical high" data can only be ranked in the "Others" category in the smartphone market, and there is a big gap between it and other mobile phone manufacturers.

According to the global smartphone shipment report for the third quarter of 2020 released by IDC, the top five listed are Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, Apple, and vivo.

Vivo, which ranked fifth, shipped 31.5 million units in one quarter, which is more than four times the annual shipments of Pixel in 2019, not to mention Apple, which is nearly 5.7 times.

However, despite mediocre sales, Google remains confident in Pixel.

At this year's third quarter earnings conference, Sundar Pichai said that he is investing more deeply in hardware and is optimistic about the future of hardware.

Sundar Pichai said:

We are making deeper investments in hardware, some of which may take 2-3 years to see results, but I am very optimistic about the future roadmap... Next year you will see our deeper investments come into play in hardware.

Judging from the time dimension of the layout and Google's dynamics, perhaps Whitechapel is Google's hidden "big move" .

But when this trick is used, can Pixel get out of the mud?

To answer this question, we first need to clarify why Pixel's sales are not good.

Google's explanation is that competition in the high-end market is fierce. However, no matter how competitive the market is, it is relatively fair to mobile phone manufacturers in it. The issue of Pixel's sales still needs to be solved from its own perspective.

Leifeng.com once analyzed that there are two main reasons for the poor sales of Pixel: one is that the price is too high; the other is that the shortcomings are obvious.

However, considering Google's high-end positioning of Pixel, the high price of Pixel seems understandable.

The shortcomings of Pixel are the main reasons for its criticism by users, including but not limited to the screen, battery, microphone, appearance and other aspects. For example, the first three generations of Pixel used a contrasting color design, but the fourth generation completely abandoned it, and the design style has difficulty in continuity.

In addition, frequent hardware problems with Pixel phones, such as audio input failure and phone heating, also have a negative impact on the user experience.

Therefore, even though Pixel has strong internal strength, its lack of external strength has indeed weakened its market competitiveness.

Although it still has some flaws, as Google's "own son", Pixel can be said to have integrated Google's profound technical skills, including but not limited to Google Assistant, strong imaging capabilities, Google-exclusive storage services, and various cutting-edge auxiliary chips.

More importantly, as the leader of the Android operating system, Google not only provides the Pixel series with the latest version of Android support, but also allows Pixel to have icons and Google services that are different from native Android, such as Live Caption.

Undoubtedly, Pixel is the most advantageous hardware carrier in the Android camp.

Judging from the "AI+software+hardware" proposed by Pichai, the strength of its AI and software is beyond doubt, but there is still a lot of room for development in the hardware sector - not only in the hardware strength of Pixel itself, but also in the integration of the entire software and hardware ecosystem.

Whether it is the improvement of strength or the integration of software and hardware ecology, it is inseparable from the processor chip, that is, Whitechapel.

In this regard, Apple, a company in another camp, has already set an example - it has been equipped with self-developed A series chips since the iPhone 4, and this year it launched the M1 chip for Mac products, advancing ecological integration step by step.

As mentioned earlier, Whitechapel will not only be used for Pixel, but will also be combined with Chromebook. Its arrival may bring more possibilities to Google hardware.

However, Google's poor sales are the result of many factors, and a single breakthrough in the problem is not a fundamental solution. Therefore, even if Whitechapel can bring room for development, the shortcomings of hardware product capabilities should be made up in order to truly win the favor of consumers.

Otherwise, if Pixel still has strong internal strength but insufficient external force, the fate of Pixel will still be in doubt.

References:

• https://www.tomshardware.com/news/google-developing-own-processors-for-smartphones-and-chromebooks