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aecarol1 t1_j1idwjr wrote

Reply to comment by GongTzu in Google’s alleged Pixel phone plans for the next three years have leaked by CerebralTiger

That's not how it works. Nobody who knows what they are doing "tests the waters" with a leak. There's no control over it or the response. They study the market, they watch trends, the biggest contributor is talking with supply chain sources to find interesting new display, sensors, capabilities, etc to see how they can leverage it. (see note)

Leaks are always bad and companies work hard to prevent them.

If the leak is wrong, it sets customers up for disappointment. "But the next release was supposed to have feature XYZ!"

If the leak is right, competitors learn about your plans. Combined with what they already know about the supply chain it may give them a leg up on getting ahead of you. Don't discount first-to-market, or first-to-market 'done right'. Nobody wants to lose that.

Also, if the leak is right, it takes the thrill out of the actual announcement. It's not exciting, it's not news. "I'm supposed to get excited about what we knew all along?" That gets announcements put on the back page, not the front page. Companies want the front page.

Talking about the importance of not leaking, Steve Jobs said (exact words not recalled) "An unexpected major release is worth $30 million in marketing to Apple".

NOTE: Apple was the first to see the importance of the 5gb micro hard drives the supply chain was offering. Nobody else cared. That's how the iPod came to market with a pocket device that could hold 1,000 songs while competitors were squeezing 40 songs into their devices. No leaks. It changed their fortunes.

tl;dr leaks always disappoint customers in the end when the product is released regardless of if the leak was right or wrong.

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Profesor_Pickle t1_j1jvbp3 wrote

Not to mention development for any phone take years. Before the Pixel 6 was even released, teams were already working on the Pixel 7

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aecarol1 t1_j1k5pgi wrote

Yea, people smugly think there is some cynical reason for leaks. But you nailed an excellent reason why not. The feature set is frozen quite a bit in advance because they have to line up the ability to make millions of them with bulk supply buys.

They can't "check interest" with a leak and then sell that phone in 8 months.

Most leaks are either people getting paid by industrial spies, or people who simply can't keep their mouth shut.

(Edited a word)

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Dpsizzle555 t1_j1lxx2l wrote

Leaks are a new way to market your product you’re a buffoon and a corporate shill

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aecarol1 t1_j1lzr8b wrote

For idiots who don't know how to market well, perhaps. Leaking is a no-win for the company.

If the leak is true, then on announcement day, nobody is impressed or surprised because it was "Nothing unexpected. Yawn". News outlets may not even bother to note the announcement.

If the leak ended up getting exaggerated, then on announcement day it's nothing but disappointment, "That's it?!?!?! They were supposed to mega-feature!". News outlets might talk about how the manufacturer is struggling and had to "drop features". Looks bad.

But if you can get a new feature out that people did not expect, then people go "Wow!". There is chatter online. News people might make a story about it.

tl;dr leaks are like telling people what they will get for Christmas in advance. If it's true, it ends up being nice, but no real joy or excitement because of lack of surprise. If false, nothing but disappointment Christmas morning.

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Dpsizzle555 t1_j1m827m wrote

Leaking is a marketing strategy. Many companies does it now so idk what horse shit you’re spewing

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