Google debuts cheaper Pixel phones after premium handsets flop

A new Google Pixel 3a phone (C) is displayed during the Google I/O conference at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on May 7, 2019. (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP)

Google unveiled cheaper Pixel smartphones on May 7 after the company’s line of premium handsets failed to sell in large numbers. 

Slower processors and cheaper materials helped Google price the Pixel 3a with a 5.6in screen at US$399 (RM1,655). The larger Pixel 3a XL has a 6in screen and costs US$479 (RM1,986). That’s roughly half the price of the company’s existing Pixel phones, before recent discounts.