Google (GOOGL) Enhances Pixel Products With New Clock Design

New features for Pixel smartphones from Alphabet GOOGL are significantly improving the company's smartphone offerings.

The Clock app, which shows weather forecasts after dismissing an alarm on Pixel phones, was recently redesigned by the company in this regard.

The updated forecast shows the temperature and current conditions in a circle, followed by the high and low temperatures and the predicted conditions. Users can resume using their devices by pressing a dismissal button.

With this latest move, Alphabet is expected to gain a strong following among smartphone users. Its position in the global smartphone market will thus be strengthened as a result.

Growth Opportunities

According to a report by Mordor Intelligence, the volume of smartphones sold is predicted to reach 1.45 billion in 2023 and increase to 1.78 billion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.1% between 2023 and 2028.

For Alphabet, securing futures in the burgeoning smartphone market offers a substantial growth opportunity. Consequently, this will boost investor confidence in the stock.

Furthermore, the most recent updates should improve the performance of the Google Services division, which is a major factor in the company's growth.

At $67.99 billion, or 88.6% of total revenues, in the third quarter of 2023, Google Services' revenues climbed 10.8% year over year. There will be a 10.2% increase in revenue from 2022 to 2023, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for Google Services' fourth-quarter 2023 being set at $74.77 billion.

When compared to the Zacks Computer & Technology sector's growth of 53%, Alphabet's shares have increased by 59.1% year to date.

Rigid Rivalry With Apple

The most recent changes should help Alphabet effectively compete with Apple AAPL, which is enjoying strong momentum in the iPhone series.

iPhone sales climbed 2.8% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 compared to the same quarter the previous year, reaching $43.805 billion, or 48.9% of total sales.

Notably, Apple is adding new feature updates to improve its capabilities for the recently released iPhone 15 series.

The iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max now come with a Journal app, which enhances wellbeing and promotes thankfulness via journaling. With personalized suggestions and customizable notifications offered by on-device machine learning, it enables users to capture ordinary moments and events.

Furthermore, Apple announced a new feature in iOS 17.2 that enables users of the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max to record spatial videos. This feature will enable users to revisit these memories on Apple Vision Pro beginning early in the following year. This new feature is anticipated to completely change smartphone photography.

Alternative Stocks to Examine: Zacks Rank

Alphabet currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is shared by Camtek CAMT and KT KT, two more highly ranked stocks in the larger technology sector. The entire list of stocks that are currently ranked #1 by Zacks can be found here.

The share price of Camtek has increased 219.3% so far this year. For CAMT, the long-term earnings growth rate is fixed at 12.26%.

As of now this year, shares of KT have returned 1.4%. At this time, KT's long-term earnings growth rate is estimated to be 6.75%.

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