In the world of smartphones, the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone is king, but it does have some healthy competition from Samsung and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL). Although, Google has gained ground against both of these competitors recently. This also gives Google the opportunity to solidify Android’s reputation as a premium platform.

Sales of the Pixel have been steady, but it has been somewhat hard to get a hold of one due to component shortages. But this hasn’t dampened the company’s plans to continue investing in its own smartphones.

As the iPhone 8 is planned for a release later this year, there will also be a successor to the Pixel that will continue to carry a high price tag. Google intends to keep the Pixel at a premium price, so we might not expect anything cheap coming from this tech giant.

Rick Osterloh, Vice President of Hardware at Google, told Android Pit in a briefing at Mobile World Congress:

There is an annual rhythm in the industry. So, you can count on us to follow it. You can count on a successor this year, even if you don’t hear a date from me now.

According to Engadget:

Although Google is keeping information to a premium, its typical development cycle suggests a Pixel 2 will go on sale in the fourth quarter. The current Pixel launched in October 2016 and Google has held launch events at around the same time for Nexus phones in the past.

Shares of Alphabet were last seen down 0.5% at $845.67 on Friday, with a consensus analyst price target of $988.95 and a 52-week trading range of $672.66 to $867.00.

Apple traded at $139.00 a share, with a consensus price target of $142.48 and a 52-week range of $89.47 to $140.28.

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