Why Is Google Pixel 9a Delayed? This Leak Offers Possible Reason

While Google had announced its latest Pixel 9a on March 19, in a twist that is unconventional of the company, the phone didn't go up for purchase immediately after. Google didn't begin pre-orders on its platform and gave a tentative timeline of April for the availability of Pixel 9a. 

Later, it cited "component quality issue" with the Pixel 9a but provided no further details for delay in its on-sale date. "We're checking on a component quality issue that's affecting a small number of Pixel 9a devices," Google had reportedly told TechRadar.

This kind of last-minute product delays are extremely uncommon for Google, and a serious issue like component quality is likely to be identified and fixed earlier in the testing process. While it is also uncommon for Google hardware to be impacted in such a manner, it looks like in this case, there is some technical issue that's causing the Pixel 9a's delay.

Now, apparently, the reason may have been disclosed by a leaker.

According to the leaker @techauntyji, a post on X (via Phone Arena) indicates that "heating probs. Especially around the camera" were the reason behind the delay of a "very high profile phone". From this leak, it appears that the Pixel 9a had a tendency to overheat when the camera was being deployed.

However, for a few good reasons, this information needs to be taken with caution. The source of this leak isn't renowned in the tech circles. Also, while Google's comment regarding a "component quality issue" raises the possibility of a hardware issue, the source says that a software update should resolve the Pixel 9a issue—two different directions altogether.

It does appear though that the leaker is hinting at Pixel 9a, because in one of the replies on the post, they quipped "don’t Google it".

With Google indicating it will release the Pixel 9a next month, and the leaker also chiming in "Should be back in action in April", we hopefully have to wait for a few weeks only before Pixel 9a falls in our hands.