Even with the usual raft of Pixel bugs, the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro are fantastic smartphones—and it's about time! We've been waiting years for Google to get the Pixel line figured out, and we at AP are apparently not alone. Google is selling a lot more Pixel phones, according to new data from analytics firm Canalys. They say Google has almost quadrupled its share of the North American smartphone market in the last year, but it's still running behind the big dogs.

Google doesn't talk specific numbers for its hardware division, so take all this with a grain of salt. That said, Canalys says Google was sitting at a mere 1% (rounded up, no less) of the North American market early in 2021. By Q1 2022, the company has moved up to about 3%, which is thanks to 380% year-over-year growth.

We should not ignore the contribution of Google's cheaper A-series Pixels, but the big uptick came as the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro launched. These phones are the first with Google's custom Tensor SoC, and they also got a long overdue camera upgrade. From a purely aesthetic perspective, I think the phones are also a big win. They're colorful, and the camera visor is a fun design twist and good brand ID.

Google is now number five in North America, according to Canalys. TCL is just a bit ahead at 4% of the market, and then it's a big jump to Lenovo/Motorola at 10%. Number two is Samsung, and Apple is still way out in the lead with just over half of the NA smartphone market. That's not likely to challenge Samsung or Apple any time soon, but it could pretty easily move into fourth place this year with the impending release of the Pixel 6a.