The Google Pixel 4a release date may slip even though a leak says it's ready to ship

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By David Lumb
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The Google Pixel 4a is ready to go, but the market supposedly isn’t

Google Pixel 3a
(Image credit: Future)

Another Google Pixel 4a rumor has alleged that the phones are indeed ready to ship, but the launch date may get delayed anyway until July due to ‘market conditions.’

Presumably, this refers to consumer willingness to pick up a new phone in the middle of an outbreak, especially as consumers struggle with lost work and pay. This new rumor suggests that the phone was ready to be announced in May as expected but the whole timeline was shifted – and the new Pixel 4a release date is August 6, according to a tweet by leaker Jon Prosser.

The Pixel 4a will hit the market first in ‘Just Black’ color, followed by a ‘Barely Blue’ hue on October 1, Prosser noted in his tweet. 

That delayed timeline doesn’t just include the Pixel 4a, either: the Google Pixel 5 release date has also allegedly been pushed back.

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Google Pixel 4a release date keeps slipping

We had initially heard rumors that the Google Pixel 4a launch date was pushed from when we originally expected it to be announced in mid-May during Google IO 2020, but then we heard late May, and then early in June – supposedly to coincide with the release of the first Android 11 developer beta.

Given the lack of info, we suspected these delays were caused by the outbreak, either in production or logistics getting the phones to market. But if this latest leak is true, perhaps it’s just Google trying to play around a market that likely isn’t as eager to buy its new handsets like it would be under normal conditions. 

But delaying the Pixel 4a gives the competition more time to get entrenched in the mid-range phone market – which, really, is the iPhone SE 2020 that came out in April. And if pushing back Google’s more affordable phone means it has to push back release of its flagship Pixel 5, well, that’s not the best news for the tech giant. 

The coronavirus outbreak has affected the whole phones industry and also a lead seller of smartphones – the Amazon Prime Day 2020 date was just reportedly delayed to September for the same reason.

Covid-19 will likely cause other phones with planned 2020 launches to slip further into the year or early 2021, and that may give a big advantage to phones that have already hit the market – like the Samsung Galaxy S20, the Motorola Edge Plus and, yes, the iPhone SE 2020.

  • Google Pixel 4a: everything we've heard about pricing, specs, and release date
David Lumb
David Lumb

David is now a mobile reporter at Cnet. Formerly Mobile Editor, US for TechRadar, he covered phones, tablets, and wearables. He still thinks the iPhone 4 is the best-looking smartphone ever made. He's most interested in technology, gaming and culture – and where they overlap and change our lives. His current beat explores how our on-the-go existence is affected by new gadgets, carrier coverage expansions, and corporate strategy shifts.