Google’s Sneaky Strategy to Fight Tech Inflation

After hearing about Apple raising prices to a shocking 25%–50% increase, I wanted to dive into what Google planned on doing with their next generations of hardware across the Pixel, Home, Fitbit, and Googlebook lineups.

One major hint is a massive specification leak pointing toward a sharp divide in memory configurations. The rumor suggests that the upcoming Pixel 11 series will essentially come in two tiers—an 8GB base model and higher-end 12GB models. Where I believe the 12GB variant will be the more price-hiked spec to offset volatile component costs, the 8GB version will likely hold the line at last year's prices.

But here is the big asterisk. Remember the massive "Gemini Intelligence" system that Google announced at the Android Show to bring deep task automation, custom widgets, and on-screen context to our devices? Google shared shortly after the announcement that those advanced on-device features won't be fully available on 8GB Pixels and other budget Android devices because of the required 12GB threshold.

A recent 9to5Google report on the Mystic Leaks data drop perfectly captures the tension of this memory divide:

"This all looks fairly standard and expected, though the lower RAM SKUs on the entire lineup are notable. Google transitioned to 16GB across the lineup starting with Pixel 9 Pro, so this could be a case of a quiet price hike as a result of the RAM crisis."

While I don't have any inside information, that alleged leak heavily signifies that Google quietly planned for the global RAM shortage—a crisis that they themselves heavily fueled with their massive cloud and AI infrastructure footprint. By bottlenecking the entry-level tier at 8GB, they protect their margins, force power users onto the more expensive 12GB tier, and leave budget buyers locked out of the very "Intelligence System" Google is building the future of Android around.

To see the original announcement of the AI capabilities mentioned above, you can check out The Android Show: I/O Edition | Gemini Intelligence, which walks through how these features automate daily digital chores.

Edit: I mentioned here only the 12 GB option, but rumor suggests that Google will offer two models of Pixel Pro. The 12 GB model will use older, cheaper RAM for customers who don't care to have the higher premium price or higher premium 16 GB RAM option due to the RAM shortage. Both will still be able to use Gemini Intelligence.