Prabhu RamGoogle just announced the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL phones in New York, but there’s bad news for India fans who were waiting to upgrade. The new phones will not be coming to India and that’s thanks to the Soli radar chip on the front, which is driving the new Motion Sense and the Face Unlock feature. Google officially confirmed it is not bringing Pixel 4 to India in a statement.
A statement from an official spokesperson said this, “Google has a wide range of products that we make available in different regions around the world. We determine availability based on a variety of factors, including local trends, and product features. We decided not to make Pixel 4 available in India. We remain committed to our current Pixel phones and look forward to bringing future Pixel devices to India.”
The reason is that the Soli radar chip users the 60Ghz spectrum, which is not allowed commercially in India. While most countries have already unlicensed 60 GHz band, India has not delicensed the 60 GHz band and it is not available for consumers. The 60 GHz band is also known as WiGig band (Wi-Fi at 60 GHz) using IEEE 802.11ad protocol.
“It is understandable the reasons for why Google had to give India a miss with its Pixel 4, mainly, the Soli Radar chip, that is not listed for commercial use in India, as per National Frequency Allocation Plan (NFAP). Given that Pixel phones, in the past, have had a rather lukewarm reception in India, the Pixel 4 skipping India will not have significant implications for the company. Google did have a herculean task ahead of itself, to rectify the mistakes of the past, whether it be in terms of marketing, or getting the go-to-market approach right”, Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG) at CMR, said in a statement to indianexpress.com.
Source: Indian Express
