The Pixel 10 is breaking sales records.

Yes, you read that title correctly.

Despite our own concerns and likely

yours as Android fans, the Pixel 10

appears to be flying off store shelves.

What gives? Let's get into the numbers

and really work out what's going on and

if this is a good thing or technically a

temporary thing for Google. Do me a

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Cheers. So, cast your mind back a few

weeks. I know it's been a long few weeks

since Google dropped the Pixel 10

series. And during that sometimes

cringe-inducing keynote, plenty of us

were raising our eyebrows. Let's be

honest, it's been an uphill climb for

Google over the past few years. And in

more so here with the Pixel 10 have

there's had brutal competition since the

iPhone 17 launched. There's lingering

questions about Google's custom tensored

chips and the everpresent challenge of

just gaining any meaningful share in

that premium $600, $700, $800, $900

smartphone segment. And yet, at least in

the US, it looks like Google is managing

to do it. So, according to brand new

reports from Counterpoint Research,

fresh off the presses, Google has

delivered its highest ever single month

of sales of Pixel devices in the United

States. That was in September 2025. It

has seen a whopping 28% year-on-year

jump compared to September 2024. That

performance alone is incredible and it

forces a closer look. What changed and

do these figures really mean a lot? So,

how did the Pixel 10 overcome some of

the skepticism and what does the

competition look like now? Well, here's

what you need to know. The headline is

pretty clear. Google's US premium,

basically that's a $600 plus market

share for the Pixel, didn't just tick

up, it climbed very, very significantly.

Back in September 2025, Google's share

in that segment hit 6.1%, which isn't

much by the grand scheme of things, but

a massive leap from the tiny 0.1% it was

rocking just 3 years ago in September

2022. As I just said, this rise

represents a 28% year-on-year growth for

September 2025 versus 2024. Crucially,

the growth came at the expense of other

high-end Android OEMs, which is

interesting rather than directly the

Adpool or iPhone share, which is quite

shocking given how Google appears to

want to get iPhone users to make the

jump and keeps rolling out the red

carpet for iPhone users with switching

options, tailoring the device a little

bit towards iPhone users. Yeah, it's a

really strange one. So, Google's

momentum is taking share in the high-end

Android space. It's not necessarily

stealing from iPhone users, at least

just yet. Well, that's what we're

gathering from this information. While

Google remains way behind Apple and

Samsung in sheer volume of sales, the

trajectory is meaningful given the uh

entrenched brand loyalty of the

smartphone world that we've seen over

the past few years. Take take for

instance yourself. You probably are

using the same phone or the same brand

of phone that you've used for a few

years because you like it, you respect

it, and you want to use it again with

your future updates. So regardless of

whether the Pixel 10 is the absolute

best smartphone though in every single

metric, I think the fact that Google

moved the needle this aggressively in

this short space of time is very very

noteworthy. And maybe, just maybe, what

we as techies cringed at when Jimmy

Kimmel hosted the Maybag Google launch

actually showcased that while tech is

intrinsically nerdy, it can be more

accessible to those less techy people

out there. In hindsight, I think that

going down this QVC shopping channel

style route with a little humor thrown

in and maybe some self-awareness that

has really helped the public perception

of the brand and the devices. But then

again, do people care about keynotes?

I'm not so sure. I'd wager they probably

don't. But still, it's a human- ccentric

launch event or a humanentric launch

event that get people talking about your

product. No publicity is bad publicity,

as they say. And unlike some other OEMs

with their stuffy, overly polished

presentations, I do think the jokes did

feel a little less grandiose and more

aimed at making everyone feel included,

which is something that yeah, Samsung

has been criticized over the years for

trying to be a little bit too corporate

in their own keynotes. So before and

after the Pixel 10 hit store shelves,

there were several open questions that

we felt or well more or less felt part

of the course for a Google Pixel launch.

First and foremost among those was the

Tensor chipset or the credibility of the

Tensor chipset and obviously that puts

Tensor G5 right in the firing line.

Despite running cooler than previous

generations, we know that its raw

benchmarks and GPU performance do lag

behind the top Snapdragon and Apple

silicon offerings. It's basically just

how we've accepted the Tensor processor

at this point. For a premium phone, it

is less forgivable. It doesn't help that

this space is becoming fiercely

competitive. Of course, it's ruled by

Apple's iPhones and Samsung's Galaxy S

series devices in most regions, but

breaking in is inherently going to be

difficult because of that, and switching

OSR brand is typically a really high

hurdle for many users out there. We've

said it before, Google's uphill climb is

tough, and sometimes even we doubt that

there is enough momentum in the system

or the hardware for people to really

make that jump. Despite being, yeah,

pretty much entrenched in Google's Pixel

hardware, we've scrutinized the value

proposition because even with the

admittedly minimal hardware bottlenecks,

specifically the GPU, and we'll get on

to that in a little bit, that basically

this is holding back their phones priced

over $1,000. Yes, Google excels in other

areas, but that doesn't always translate

well to you, the buyer. Given those

clear headwinds, this early indicator of

those pre-sale concerns we had appears

to have helped fuel some of the early

Pixel 10 success. I think there are a

few reasons why maybe US buyers have

been swayed this year, probably more so

than years before. Google really drove a

stronger story around AI and integration

and lent more heavily into AI and

ondevice intelligence. Yes, might not

necessarily be the most popular or the

most valuable right now, but Google can

probably do it a little bit better than

anyone out there right now. The 106 G5

chip was also pictures the company's

biggest upgrade yet. Yes, it isn't the

most powerful, but it unlocks some of

the advanced ondevice AI that Google is

selling their phones with or tying their

phones to. They didn't try and pitch

this as just another flagship. They

emphasized some of the smarter features,

the long software support, and the

seamless Google ecosystem integration,

which is something we we should 100%

talk about more in a future video, but

I'll get into that, yes, in a future

video. Secondly, I think the phone

delivered better thermals and real world

usability than expected. While the tens

chip won't top the benchmarks, its

thermal behavior has really improved

significantly versus earlier tenting

chips, which is always a killer there.

Better thermals, at least in theory,

also means better sustained performance,

albeit low performance compared to the

best best in the business. But

crucially, it just means better

day-to-day experiences, which for most

people matters more than those benchmark

numbers. Lastly, despite our concerns,

it appears the device lineup offers a

really compelling overall value

proposition. The Pixel 10 does, I mean,

while it is isn't necessarily the most

complete, it still offers a fairly

complete package, including the 120 Hz

display, the strong camera system now

with three cameras. Even that, as I say,

triple lens on the base model, it has

fairly solid battery life and that

trademark huge seven-year software

update promise, which might be enough

for people to consider it. For many

existing Android users already embedded

in Google's ecosystems like Gmail,

Photos, Drive, all those kind of things,

the Switch does start to make a little

bit more sense as you're using a Google

hardware with Google software. Without

overeing this, I think this minor

success is really meaningful. It

somewhat val validates or validates

validates validates Google's investment

in hardware and shows that smartphone

differentiation is really really

evolving. So what I mean by that is as

hardware specs plateau yes most people

are never going to use even 50% of their

chipset on their latest Snapdragon

model. I think features like AI real

world usage of their AI under that

ecosystem experience start to become

really really important. The Pixel 10

success is less about, well, we beat

Apple in specs or we beat Qualcomm in

specs, but more about we made a

compelling premium option that checks

all of the right boxes that most people

care about. So, my key takeaway from

this sales boom is momentum. And this

momentum is great, but there are still

areas, I think, with Pixel devices that

probably need a little bit of

monitoring, a little bit of work. We

need to see the next generation not rest

on laurels quite so much. Yes, I like

the fact that they stuck with the same

design. it means that there's a

consistent design language. But for

instance, in gaming and GPU performance,

that's been one of the biggest sticking

points and complaints from some of you

out there. Even those improved thermals,

I think the GPU and the Tens G5 is still

weaker in demand in titles, meaning that

a steady 660 FPS in games like Genchin

Impact and some of those other high-end

titles does remain a challenge and that

shouldn't be a challenge moving forward.

It is a definite trade-off if you care

about the highest end chip because while

it is great to get a sales record,

Google does need to keep innovating and

optimizing to see yet more gains and I

think that may give them more of a

marketing push in future. Hopefully,

we'll see that next year with that

tensed G6 processor and then maybe later

down the line with more devices now that

they have TSM TSMC as their foundry of

choice for making their tensored

chipsets. One thing I would say is

though it is worth noting that this data

accounts for the full month of September

2025. So, that doesn't account for Black

Friday sales. No Prime Day numbers as

well cuz that was in October or other

insane discounts that are accounted for.

Yes, there are some pre-sale discounts

and pre-order discounts, but yeah, that

seems to be wrapped up into that. To me,

I think that is one of the most

impressive aspects. There's no sales or

mega cut price sales to account for this

gain in market share. I think people,

this shows that people clearly resonated

with the product that in reality isn't

that much different from its

predecessor, which is a good and a bad

thing in lots of ways. For buyers, I

think if you value a strong camera,

those AI features, which yeah, I think

some of them are a little bit halfbaked,

but still pretty solid when they do

work, that great software support, and

that really impressive material 3

expressive update, I do think the P

Pixel 10 is a serious contender via

cash. If you're a hardcore gamer, a

hardcore Android nerd out there, and you

demand the absolute fastest benchmark

numbers, maybe all of the best

specifications, yeah, you're going to

look elsewhere. You don't care about the

Pixel 10. You're going to lambast it

online. But the fact that Google is

gaining share or market share shows that

for most users, good enough plus strong

integration does actually trump raw

numbers. I want to ask you though, what

do you think? Is Google finally a

genuine third player in that premium

space for smartphones, particularly in

the North American market where this

data is from? Let me know in the comment

sections below. I'm actually I'm

actually anticipating a lot of you will

disagree here, but don't shoot the

messenger. I'm only sharing some data

and a few thoughts that I've had around

this data. So yeah, I would say expect

more to come down the month as us as

well and truly settled on the Pixel 10

series launch period. There's a lot of

sales to come and I do think that might

benefit Google even more greatly as we

approach that Christmas period as well.

Yeah, let me know what you think down in

the comment sections below. Really

interesting information. Thanks for

watching. Cheers.