I don't agree. While you may give google some upfront money for hardware, when buying new. Installing a degoogled OS effectively removes that device from their claws. Since their revenue from hardware sales is much less than their real business which is data gathering/surveilance capitalism and advertisement network. In one year your data generates them roughly the amount of the retail price of a smartphone. So even buying a pixel to remove google, makes a dent on them.

Their hardware is atleast more secure and allows unlocking. Which is worth paying for and none other manufacturer even considers. That's the only reason GOS is pixel only. And the reason I would give google some slack. Just a tiny bit of slack.