agreed h/w negative, but how far removed is pixel from android itself and then the ad tech platform, playstore, etc in general?

I think there’s a very high chance it’s net positive. It’s growing quickly and approaching 10% marketshare for premium phones (the most profitable segment) in the US.

https://axis-intelligence.com/google-pixel-statistics/

They’re also strongly tied in with Google Fi which is almost certainly very profitable.

It is net positive for keeping folks in the Google Ads funnel. That is Androids purpose after all.