During Alphabet’s Q4 2023 earnings call, Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed that the company’s Google One cloud storage service is on the brink of reaching 100 million subscribers. Pichai also expressed the company’s intention to integrate more AI-powered features into the Google One service, which was initially launched in 2018. The product has since undergone significant evolution, now offering additional perks such as Google Photos editing features including magic eraser, portrait light and portrait blur, color pop, and sky suggestion.
Key Takeaway
Google CEO Sundar Pichai revealed during Alphabet’s Q4 2023 earnings call that the company’s Google One cloud storage service is on the verge of reaching 100 million subscribers. The service, which was first introduced in 2018, has evolved to offer additional perks such as Google Photos editing features. Google’s overall subscription business, including YouTube Premium and Music, YouTube TV, and Google One, has seen significant growth, surpassing
5 billion in annual revenues. However, Google’s ad revenue of $65.5 billion, while showing an 11% year-on-year increase, fell short of analyst expectations, leading to a 4% decline in the company’s stocks.
Google One Subscription Plans and Revenue Growth
Google One subscription plans start at $1.99 per month, providing 100GB of storage shareable with up to five individuals, along with access to its VPN service in the U.S. Pichai highlighted the substantial growth in Google’s overall subscription business, which encompasses YouTube Premium and Music, YouTube TV, and Google One. This segment has surpassed $15 billion in annual revenues, marking a fivefold increase compared to 2019. The “Subscriptions, Platforms and Devices” vertical has also achieved a notable 23% year-on-year growth due to the strong performance of the subscription services.
YouTube Paid Plans and User Engagement
While Google previously reported 80 million subscribers for YouTube’s paid plans in November 2022, there has been no update on this figure since then. The company did, however, mention that YouTube Shorts are being viewed by 2 billion signed-in users monthly, with 7 billion daily plays, consistent with the figures disclosed in Google’s Q3 2023 results.
Google’s Workforce and Financial Performance
Earlier this month, Google implemented workforce reductions, affecting nearly 1,000 employees across hardware, engineering, and services, as well as 100 employees from YouTube. In an internal memo, Pichai indicated the likelihood of further job cuts later in the year. Despite a marginal increase in the number of employees from the previous quarter, Google’s current workforce of 182,502 is notably lower than the 190,234 employees it had at the end of 2022.
Financial Results and Stock Performance
Google’s ad revenue of $65.5 billion, while representing an 11% year-on-year growth, fell short of analyst expectations of $65.8 billion. Consequently, the company’s stocks experienced a 4% decline following this announcement.
