SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 9, 2018 (News Wires) - Alphabet Inc's Google will unveil the third edition of its Pixel smartphone at 10 media events across the world on Tuesday, a hint that it is prepared to expand geographic distribution of a device it hopes someday is as popular as Apple Inc's iPhone. Google's free Android software operates most of the world's smartphones. But the company three years ago branched into hardware to have products where, like Apple, it could have full control of the performance of its applications and the revenue they generate. Though Google has succeeded in selling lower-priced devices such as smart speakers and home routers, the phones have been a tougher sell. Google shipped 2.53 million Pixel 2 and 2 XL devices through the nine months ended June 30, garnering less than 1 percent of the global market for smartphones, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The first Pixel devices reached 2.4 million shipments in the nine months ended June 30, 2017, the firm said. Limited adoption has reflected Google's hesitancy to go as wide and big in distributing and marketing the Pixel as Apple, which launched its last two iPhone line-ups in about 50 countries. Going from a small experiment to a polished product backed by large sales, support and technical teams has been part of Google's challenge.