Google has cancelled its two unreleased tablet devices and won’t be pursuing the tablets segment any more. According to a Google spokesperson, ”For Google’s first-party hardware efforts, we’ll be focusing on Chrome OS laptops and will continue to support Pixel Slate.” Google had only one device under the Pixel branding, named as the Pixel Slate.
There is no clarity as to why exactly Google has discontinued the tablet line, but Computerworld clarifies that Google considers a tablet to be a device that detaches completely from a keyboard base or has no physical keyboard at all. The news regarding discontinuation of the tablets was revealed to the employees at an internal company meeting on Wednesday.
“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.”
There are only two strong competitors Apple and Samsung in the table segment as of now, where the popularity of Apple might be the reason for discontinuing as well. Google still plans to offer support to the Pixel Slate till June 2024. The Chrome OS, on which the Pixel Slate and Pixelbook, will still remain in action and the team will continue software development for tablets and laptops so that other manufacturers can still use Chrome OS for their devices.
The focus of Google now shifts to laptops and we can expect a new successor to the Pixelbook. The Pixel phones will not be affected in any way in regard to this new change in the company.
