By now it should be no secret that Samsung has been getting hammered in nearly every possible way over the past few weeks. But now it looks like things are about to go from bad to worse thanks to Google's introduction of the Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones.
Samsung's troubles with the Galaxy Note 7 only span for a little over a month, though you wouldn't know that by seeing how much it has dominated headlines within that period. It began when the South Korean company had been forced to recall the flagship handset after dozens of customers began to report that their phones had exploded, and even the early stages of that recall didn't go over too well because there was no clear path for customers to receive a replacement device.
Unfortunately, things only got worse since then. Samsung faced the prospect of the phones exploding in China - a significant development because the company claimed the root of the problem was with faulty batteries that weren't used in any handsets distributed in the region - and then had to deal with the coming of the iPhone 7.
But if Samsung thought its greatest troubles were behind it, then the company might be sorely mistaken. Why? Because Google has entered the smartphone game with the Pixel.
During an event earlier this week, Google unveiled the Pixel smartphone, a sleek, premium device that is clearly intended to go head-to-head with models from other handset manufacturers like Apple and Samsung.
At first glance one would assume that Apple had more to fear from the Pixel than Samsung, and it wouldn't necessarily be wrong to adopt that frame of thought either - nearly everything about the Pixel seems like Google designed it explicitly to take on Apple.
To start, the easiest way to describe the Pixel is to call it an iPhone 6s with iPhone 7 specs. Just like with the iPhone 6S, the Pixel features visible antenna lines, brushed aluminum backs, a headphone jack and isn't waterproof. Even the price is same, with the base 32 GB model of the Pixel retailing for $649.
What's more, Google poked fun at Apple throughout the entire event, referencing everything from the iPhone 7's camera bump to its lack of a headphone jack.
However, as things turn out, Samsung - and not Apple - has more to lose from the coming of the Pixel, and the reason for this is the OS.
It's easy to switch from one iOS or Android device to another, but things aren't quite as easy when switching from iOS to Android or vice-versa. Not only do you need to port over your data, there's also no guarantee you'll get all the apps you want. This is something that iPhone users would need to consider if they want to switch to Pixel, but that consideration is meaningless to Galaxy owners because their previous phone and the Pixel are both Android-powered.
So consider this: you've been a longtime Samsung consumer, and you want a new phone, what do you go with? Do you go with the phone that has seen so much negative publicity that some are telling anyone who will listen to not buy it, or go with the phone that has the same underlying software, but with the added perk of not incinerating your property?
If your answer is the former, then peace be with you. However, if your answer is the latter, which might be the case for many in the coming weeks, then Samsung is in serious trouble.
