Verizon will reportedly not sell future Google Pixel phones

Editorial Director of News and Content

| February 19, 2020

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Verizon has been a U.S. carrier partner for Google's Pixel phones ever since the original Pixel and Pixel XL launched in 2016, but that partnership may be coming to an end.

Verizon has reportedly halted any plans to carry new Google Pixel phones indefinitely. That's according to a source speaking to Android Police, who says that the chance of the Pixel 4a launching at Verizon is zero and that Verizon currently has no plans of selling the Pixel 5, either.

No specific reason for the decision was given, but it could be that the Pixel phones aren't selling strongly enough. Despite Google's name and marketing budget behind them, the Pixel phones have failed to catch on with consumers on the same level that Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy phones do.

Losing Verizon as a carrier partner in the U.S. would be a big deal for Google. While the company did team up with T-Mobile and Sprint to sell the Pixel 4 and 4 XL as well as the Pixel 3a and 3a XL last year, Verizon is much larger than T-Mo and Sprint and so it has more customers to expose to Google's Pixel phones.

Whenever Google does launch its Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 phones, it will still sell them directly to consumers and it may still have partnerships with T-Mobile, Sprint, and other carriers. Most U.S. consumers still buy their smartphones from their carrier, though, and so losing Verizon is losing a large group of potential customers.

Google's Pixel phones have gained a reputation among tech enthusiasts for having great camera performance and speedy software updates. If getting guaranteed security and OS updates are a priority for you, a Pixel would be a top recommendation. Those things haven't been enough for Pixels to gain serious traction with the public, though, and so Verizon may be dropping Google and possibly striking a deal with OnePlus.

UPDATE: Verizon has responded to this report to Android Authority's Eric Zeman, saying that "there is no truth to this report" and that it "continues to work with Google."

Verizon says "There is no truth to this report" that it will stop selling Google's Pixel phones. "Verizon continues to work with Google and looks forward to the new portfolio of devices."

— Z (@zeman_e) February 20, 2020