Google's camera chief Marc Levoy quits following Pixel 4's poor sales: Report

Marc Levoy, Pixel’s chief camera engineer, has reportedly quit the company following poor sales of Pixel 4 series. Levoy is known as the pioneer of Google’s computational photography, which essentially listed the Google Pixel smartphones among the best available devices to shoot photographs.

Levoy’s exit follows Google Pixel division’s General Manager Mario Queiroz, who quit the company and joined a cybersecurity firm in January. The reason behind Levoy quitting Google is said to be the Pixel 4’s poor sales, reported The Information. The report further mentions that Levoy quit the company in March, and the same reflects on his LinkedIn profile. 

The report does not have any particular insight but mentions about two people who criticised Google’s hardware lead Rick Osterloh decisions before the Pixel 4 launch. “At a hardware team all-hands meeting in the fall, ahead of the October launch in New York, Osterloh informed staff about his own misgivings. He told them he did not agree with some of the decisions made about the phone, according to two people who were present at the meeting. In particular, he was disappointed in its battery power.”

Pixel 4’s poor sales can be attributed to the poor battery life that was heavily criticised in tech reviews. Alongside, tech enthusiasts were disappointed with the company’s decision to opt for a telephoto lens instead of an ultrawide sensor. IDC estimates suggest that Google managed to sell only 2 million Pixel 4 devices in the first two quarters since its launch, compared to 3.5 million Pixel 3s and 3 million Pixel 3a series. 

The bigger loss for Google could be Levoy’s exit who is said to be the brains behind the Google Camera’s popular Portrait mode and Night Sight that contribute heavily to the Pixel’s camera prowess.