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What Google CEO Sundar Pichai said about Covid vaccine, Pixel, Android 12, Reliance Jio and more during Q2 earnings call
Gadgets Now Bureau29 Jul, 2021, 10:52AM IST
Urges everyone to get Covid-19 vaccine
Google CEO kicked off the earnings call by urging everybody to get the Covid-19 vaccine, "First, I want to acknowledge that the new COVID-19 variants have been challenging for so many communities across the world. As the pandemic evolves, ... I really encourage everyone to get the vaccine when it's available to you." In an internal memo too, Google CEO said that vaccinations will be required for employees working at offices.
Android 12 is central to Pixel lineup
Pichai talked about how Google's annual hardware launch and the latest version of its operating system for smartphones, Android 12. "Android 12 will, of course, be central to Google's phone [ph] devices. I'm very excited by our fall lineup, which will showcase Android 12 ..." he said.
Proud of Pixel team
Talking about Pixel he said that Pixel remains at the heart of the company's long-term strategy and "I’m proud of how the team continues to deliver the best of Google through our family of helpful devices, including Nest and Fitbit."
May have hinted at Google's custom chips
Talking about hardware, Pichai said, "I'm very excited by our fall lineup, which will showcase Android 12 ... and some of the deep technology investments that are helping us push boundaries." Here analysts believe that he may be referring to custom chips that Google is said to be working on for its devices, codenamed Whitechapel.
Fitbit helped boost Google's hardware revenue
Pichai mentioned Fitbit's contribution to Google's hardware revenue while talking about growth in revenue from other sources. "Other revenues were $6.6 billion, up 29%, primarily driven by growth in YouTube non-advertising revenues, followed by hardware, which benefited from the addition of Fitbit revenues," he said.
Focus on industry-specific solutions helped Google get Reliance Jio and others as customers
Google signed India's leading telecom company Reliance Jio as customer for its cloud services during the quarter. The announcement of the same was made by Pichai during Reliance Industry's 42nd annual general meeting (AGM) in July. Jio also found a mention in Google's Q2 earnings call. "Our focus on delivering industry-specific solutions, coupled with our secure open cloud infrastructure, enable us to support leading telecommunications companies such as Reliance Jio, Telecom Italia Tim and Ericsson to work together on applications and new solutions for 5G networks and mobile edge computing. These join existing customers Vodafone, Telus and many others," said Pichai.
Extends global voluntary work-from-home policy
Talking about the company's work from home policy, Pichai said, "Now we are re-imagining the future of work with flexibility as a guiding principle. I was excited to see so many people in person as we started a voluntary return to our California offices recently. As we make our way back, we are giving employees more flexibility in how and where they work, and we'll continue to invest in our sites in the US and elsewhere." Google has extended the work-from-home policy through October 18 in response to an increase in cases after the spread of the Delta variant.
Android developers worldwide earned $120 billion during the second quarter of 2021
"Through the end of Q2, over $120 billion has been earned cumulatively by developers around the world from Google Play," Pichai said talking about how the company is seeing developers around the world getting tremendous benefit from Google Play Store.
Increase in cyber and ransomware attacks is a wakeup call for the industry
Talking about distinct trends witnessed during the quarter Google CEO warned the enterprises across the world about the rise in cyber and ransomware attacks. He said that the increase in cyber and ransomware attacks is a wakeup call for the industry. "Over two decades, Google has built some of the most secure computing systems in the world. And we are proud that our Google Cloud customers can benefit from our experience here," Pichai added.