Google has confirmed that it has no future plans to release any new tablet devices, and has cancelled two models that were in development.
Computerworld today reported a Google spokesperson confirmed the move. Google hadn’t released a tablet since 2018’s Pixel Slate. The company was working on two smaller tablets, but decided to drop tablet development in favor of concentrating on laptops.
Computerworld’s JR Raphael said:
A Google spokesperson directly confirmed all of these details to me. The news was revealed at an internal company meeting on Wednesday, and Google is currently working to reassign employees who were focused on the abandoned projects onto other areas. Many of them, I’m told, have already shifted over to the laptop side of that same self-made hardware division.
To be clear, Google considers a tablet to be a device that detaches completely from a keyboard base or has no physical keyboard at all. Google considers its two-in-one convertible devices like the Pixelbook to be laptops, not tablets.
Google has disclosed as to why it has dropped out of the tablet market, but the search giant (and every other tablet manufacturer), likely found it tough to compete with the two leaders in the market, Apple and Samsung.
Google will continue to offer support and updates for the Pixel Slate until June 2024. The Chrome OS team will now focus on software development for for tablets and laptops. (Other manufacturers will continue to produce Chrome-based tablets.)
