https://tech.co/news/google-cancels-tablet-slate-2019-06
Google Steps Down from Tablet Business
News
Jack Turner
@JackTurnerTech
June 21, 2019
6:15 am
Share
Google has announced that it will no longer produce its own Android tablets, with 2018’s Pixel Slate now marking the company’s tablet swan song.
The news might not be too surprising for some pundits, who have long claimed that Google’s offerings have failed to capture the imagination of the public in the way that its early, budget tablets did. The decline of the Android tablet market is also another nail in the coffin, and good news for Apple’s iPad dominance.
With Google’s withdrawal, is there still space in the market for Android tablets, or has Apple (and to a lesser extent, Microsoft’s Surface line), won?
Why is Google Discontinuing Tablets?
In his tweet revealing the news, Rick Osterloh, leader of hardware at Google, stated that his team would continue focusing on its laptop business moving forward. But, no clear reasoning has been given for dropping tablets. Speculation suggests that sluggish sales, and the company’s inability to find a killer product to compete with the iPad are contributing factors.
It’s certainly true that Google tablets have failed to set the world on fire (quick test: how many people do you know that own one?). That contrasts with its success in the smartphones space, however – the Google Pixel phones are among the best smartphones you can buy, and particularly impress with their brilliant cameras.
Phone lovers shouldn’t despair – despite the similar naming convention with its tablet range, the Pixel range of phones is proving popular as ever, and is unaffected by this decision. The Pixel Chromebook is also safe, leading the way as a premium Chromebook offering.
Even if it’s pulling out of producing its own tablets, Google has committed to working with partners on Android devices, and supporting the Android and ChromeOS platforms. Osterloh also promised that Google would continue to support its most recent tablet release, the Pixel Slate.
Google’s Tablet History
Google may not have produced a huge volume of tablets over the years, but its devices certainly made an impact. This is especially true for its debut tablet, the Nexus 7.
Manufactured by Asus, and released in 2012 with Google branding, it was a huge hit – thanks in part to its fairly modest price. While it couldn’t compete with Apple’s iPad range on specs, it could certainly give the iPad a challenge on price. Starting at $199, the Nexus 7 felt a true bargain compared to the original iPad’s $499 asking price. Sure, it only came with 8GB of storage, but throw in an SD card and you could expand it for cheap – another point scored against the iPad. Google managed to sell over 7 million of them.
The Nexus 7 suffered some bad press as it aged, however. It was notorious for slowing down, and owners would regularly need to reset it to get it back up to speed again. Google released a follow up in 2013, as well as a larger 10-inch model.
Google released the Nexus 9 in 2014. This was a decent Android tablet for the time, but it couldn’t capture the lightning-in-a-bottle that had made the Nexus 7 so popular. Google’s CFO Patrick Pichette lamented the tablet’s lack of success, saying, ‘Year over year it hasn’t been as strong given the strength of the Nexus 7 last year’.
In 2015 Google launched the Pixel C tablet. It was a much more premium device than the Nexus line, but, by this point the Android tablet market was already in deep slide, with consumers preferring to pick up Apple and Windows tablets, instead.
Google’s last attempt was 2018’s Pixel Slate, which ditched the Android platform and went with ChromeOS instead – usually reserved for Chromebooks. It was pitched as a powerful and premium tablet. Despite a few small issues, we liked it plenty in our review, but the starting price of $599, going up to $1,299, was too much of a big ask for the average consumer.
Copy: Untitled infographic
Infogram
Is this the End of the Line for the Android Tablet?
While Google may be ditching its tablet business, there are still plenty of other manufacturers out there producing Android tablets. Big names like Asus, Samsung and Acer still knock out tablets every year that run on Google’s operating system (or modified versions of it). And, let’s not forget Amazon, which is quietly a big player in the Android tablet space thanks to its Fire range (built on the foundations of the Android OS).
Still, it’s a tough market for Android tablets. Apple’s extensive iPad range means that it has a tablet for pretty much everyone. With the 9.7-inch iPad starting at $329, and offering a great tablet experience, it’s hard to beat on price and consumer aspiration.
Then, there’s Windows based devices, which offer users an instantly recognisable user interface. Some are priced pretty appealingly – even Microsoft’s own Go tablet can be had for under $400.
While Google may have pulled out of the tablet industry for now, there’s still a chance it’ll be back. Many of us assumed that the Pixel C was the company’s last gasp, after it was discontinued in 2017 with no immediate successor, until the Pixel Slate was revealed in 2018.
Google has gained a bit of reputation for being quick to cancel projects when it loses interest, but it’s also just as quick to start them again, so don’t be too surprised if we see another Google tablet in the future.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/20/18693399/google-abandoning-tablets-pixel-slate-failure
Google says it’s done making tablets and cancels two unreleased products
140 comments
The Pixel Slate won’t get a sequel, but the Pixelbook will
By Chris Welch@chriswelch Jun 20, 2019, 3:29pm EDT
Share
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64044896/vpavic_181116_3087_0090.0.jpg)
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Google will not be launching a sequel to last year’s Pixel Slate tablet, according to Business Insider and Computer World, and will instead focus its Chrome OS hardware efforts on traditional laptop devices like the Pixelbook. “For Google’s first-party hardware efforts, we’ll be focusing on Chrome OS laptops and will continue to support Pixel Slate,” a spokesperson told Business Insider.
Translation: you can expect the Slate to continue to receive software and security updates for several years to come — but there won’t be a Pixel Slate 2. Rick Osterloh, who leads Google’s hardware business, confirmed as much on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
Related
Google Pixel Slate review: slapdash
The Pixel Slate received largely mediocre reviews when it went on sale last year. Google earned praise for the device’s hardware design, but the software felt unfinished — Chrome OS has yet to really feel at home on a tablet — and lower-priced versions of the Slate suffered from extremely sluggish performance and lag. It’s rare to see an MKBHD review that’s this bruising:
Google has resolved some of those issues with updates, but more than anything else, the company might have realized that taking on Apple’s iPad was going to be a losing battle. The iPad is offered at multiple price points, has an enormous selection of apps, and is set to gain productivity enhancements this fall with the rollout of iPadOS. And the Slate was never going to best Microsoft’s Surface for consumers really seeking a full-blown desktop PC experience on a tablet.
The Pixelbook, meanwhile, has been met with much better feedback from customers since its release in 2017 owing to its fantastic keyboard, nice screen, lightweight design, and unique style. And it’s now clear that a new model is on the way. A Google spokesperson told Computer World, which also reported on this news, that it’s “very likely” a Pixelbook 2 will see release before the end of 2019.
At the same time, Osterloh is trying to underline that Google has every intention of improving Chrome OS on tablet devices — since several companies including Acer and HP have already released products in that form factor. But Google itself throwing in the towel isn’t a great vote of confidence.
https://phandroid.com/2019/06/20/google-confirms-that-they-are-out-of-the-tablet-business/
google-confirms-that-they-are-out-of-the-tablet-business
Earlier this year, we ran an editorial in which we thought that perhaps it was time for Google to give up on tablets. It seems that maybe Google has agreed because according to a report from Computerworld, they have heard that Google will be stopping work on tablets and will instead be choosing to focus on laptops moving forwards.
The report goes on to claim that Google actually had two new tablets in the works, but ultimately decided to cancel them in favor of utilizing their resources for other projects instead. Google’s SVP of Device and Services Rick Osterloh has since confirmed the report to be true in a tweet where he reassures that while Google themselves will no longer be making tablets, it does not mean that the company will stop supporting the tablet concept as a whole.
This move hardly comes as a surprise because, in a report back in March, the company’s tablets future was cast into uncertainty as Google had reshuffled its employees from its tablet division and told them to find positions in other parts of the company instead. Plus, Google’s recent tablet efforts haven’t exactly been met with resounding success, so why focus on a product category that isn’t doing well?
Note that these changes will apply only to tablets, and that hybrid two-in-one convertibles such as the Pixelbook will continue to be made. We expect that we should hear more about a refresh of the laptop soon, so check back again later for more updates.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/06/google-hardware-quits-the-tablet-business-again/
Subscribe
Sign in
Slated for cancellation —
Google Hardware quits the tablet business, again
The problem-plagued Pixel Slate will not be getting a follow-up.
Ron Amadeo - Friday at undefined
Google and tablets just don't mix. The company tried over and over again to make Android tablets work, peaking with the 2013 Nexus 7 and ending with the Pixel C in 2015.
After a three-year hiatus from the market, Google took a second swing at tablets with Chrome OS and the Pixel Slate. Four months later, we heard Google Hardware's laptop and tablet division was in trouble. Seven months later—in other words, right now—Google's Chrome OS tablets are dead.
Following a report from Computerworld claiming Google cancelled two tablets and was quitting the tablet business, Google Hardware SVP Rick Osterloh confirmed the news on Twitter:
Osterloh later clarified that only tablets would be canceled and that Google is "committed to our many other hardware categories."
ARS TRENDING VIDEO
Ars Technica Live #30: A New Hope For Tech Activism
Google kills product
The second big problem was Chrome OS, which, while it had been around on laptops forever, was just getting off the ground as a reworked tablet OS. It was not really ready for the Pixel Slate launch, with a buggy split-screen implementation, poor performance, and a weird UI that used a full-screen mode in tablet form but allowed normal window operation in laptop mode. There were a host of other quirks and issues, but the bottom line was that Google was charging a premium price for hardware and software that felt more "beta" than "premium."
The Computerworld report that triggered Osterloh's statement says Google cancelled two products, both lacking a keyboard and having a smaller body than the 12.3-inch Pixel Slate.
Osterloh promises Google is still focused on the software part of tablet support, even if it isn't investing in hardware. (Just ask Android tablet users how Google tablet support has worked out for them over the years, though.) Saying the team is "focused on building laptops" should mean a new Pixelbook is on the way—the last version released in 2017. That's potentially exciting news assuming you're still willing to invest in a Google product at this point.
https://tw.news.yahoo.com/google-宣佈將終止平板電腦業務-070439333.html
Google 宣佈將終止平板電腦業務
Qooah
1.6k 人追蹤
Richy
2019年6月24日 下午3:04
文章來源：Qooah.com
在流動產品而言，除了智能電話及手提電腦外，從中間著墨的產品相信就是平板電腦。
平板電腦推出的頭幾年，由於屏幕比智能電話大、但比手提電腦方便攜帶，所以受到不少消費者的支持，多家智能電話生產商都推出平板電腦產品。不過近年隨著平板電腦+手提電腦的出現，例如 Microsoft Surface，似乎打開了缺口，再加上智能電話的屏幕尺寸不斷增大，令到平板電腦的歡迎程度不及從前，所以不少生產商都低調推出，甚至停止生產。
現在 Google 發言人也正式宣佈將正式放棄平板電腦業務。除此以外，更取消兩款尚未對外宣佈的設備。被取消的兩款產品尺寸都比12.3吋的 Slate 為小，原計劃於今年推出，而他們的解釋是因為質保問題導致這兩款產品以及整個平板電腦專案被取消。
而受影響的人員大約有20人，並於已於昨日收到通知，其中大部份人預計將會轉到 Pixelbook 筆記型電腦開發團隊中。
根據該發言人表示，他們將會專注 Chrome OS 手提電腦，但仍會繼續支援 Pixel Slate。
Google Steps Down from Tablet Business
News
Jack Turner
@JackTurnerTech
June 21, 2019
6:15 am
Share
Google has announced that it will no longer produce its own Android tablets, with 2018’s Pixel Slate now marking the company’s tablet swan song.
The news might not be too surprising for some pundits, who have long claimed that Google’s offerings have failed to capture the imagination of the public in the way that its early, budget tablets did. The decline of the Android tablet market is also another nail in the coffin, and good news for Apple’s iPad dominance.
With Google’s withdrawal, is there still space in the market for Android tablets, or has Apple (and to a lesser extent, Microsoft’s Surface line), won?
Why is Google Discontinuing Tablets?
In his tweet revealing the news, Rick Osterloh, leader of hardware at Google, stated that his team would continue focusing on its laptop business moving forward. But, no clear reasoning has been given for dropping tablets. Speculation suggests that sluggish sales, and the company’s inability to find a killer product to compete with the iPad are contributing factors.
It’s certainly true that Google tablets have failed to set the world on fire (quick test: how many people do you know that own one?). That contrasts with its success in the smartphones space, however – the Google Pixel phones are among the best smartphones you can buy, and particularly impress with their brilliant cameras.
Phone lovers shouldn’t despair – despite the similar naming convention with its tablet range, the Pixel range of phones is proving popular as ever, and is unaffected by this decision. The Pixel Chromebook is also safe, leading the way as a premium Chromebook offering.
Even if it’s pulling out of producing its own tablets, Google has committed to working with partners on Android devices, and supporting the Android and ChromeOS platforms. Osterloh also promised that Google would continue to support its most recent tablet release, the Pixel Slate.
Google’s Tablet History
Google may not have produced a huge volume of tablets over the years, but its devices certainly made an impact. This is especially true for its debut tablet, the Nexus 7.
Manufactured by Asus, and released in 2012 with Google branding, it was a huge hit – thanks in part to its fairly modest price. While it couldn’t compete with Apple’s iPad range on specs, it could certainly give the iPad a challenge on price. Starting at $199, the Nexus 7 felt a true bargain compared to the original iPad’s $499 asking price. Sure, it only came with 8GB of storage, but throw in an SD card and you could expand it for cheap – another point scored against the iPad. Google managed to sell over 7 million of them.
The Nexus 7 suffered some bad press as it aged, however. It was notorious for slowing down, and owners would regularly need to reset it to get it back up to speed again. Google released a follow up in 2013, as well as a larger 10-inch model.
Google released the Nexus 9 in 2014. This was a decent Android tablet for the time, but it couldn’t capture the lightning-in-a-bottle that had made the Nexus 7 so popular. Google’s CFO Patrick Pichette lamented the tablet’s lack of success, saying, ‘Year over year it hasn’t been as strong given the strength of the Nexus 7 last year’.
In 2015 Google launched the Pixel C tablet. It was a much more premium device than the Nexus line, but, by this point the Android tablet market was already in deep slide, with consumers preferring to pick up Apple and Windows tablets, instead.
Google’s last attempt was 2018’s Pixel Slate, which ditched the Android platform and went with ChromeOS instead – usually reserved for Chromebooks. It was pitched as a powerful and premium tablet. Despite a few small issues, we liked it plenty in our review, but the starting price of $599, going up to $1,299, was too much of a big ask for the average consumer.
Copy: Untitled infographic
Infogram
Is this the End of the Line for the Android Tablet?
While Google may be ditching its tablet business, there are still plenty of other manufacturers out there producing Android tablets. Big names like Asus, Samsung and Acer still knock out tablets every year that run on Google’s operating system (or modified versions of it). And, let’s not forget Amazon, which is quietly a big player in the Android tablet space thanks to its Fire range (built on the foundations of the Android OS).
Still, it’s a tough market for Android tablets. Apple’s extensive iPad range means that it has a tablet for pretty much everyone. With the 9.7-inch iPad starting at $329, and offering a great tablet experience, it’s hard to beat on price and consumer aspiration.
Then, there’s Windows based devices, which offer users an instantly recognisable user interface. Some are priced pretty appealingly – even Microsoft’s own Go tablet can be had for under $400.
While Google may have pulled out of the tablet industry for now, there’s still a chance it’ll be back. Many of us assumed that the Pixel C was the company’s last gasp, after it was discontinued in 2017 with no immediate successor, until the Pixel Slate was revealed in 2018.
Google has gained a bit of reputation for being quick to cancel projects when it loses interest, but it’s also just as quick to start them again, so don’t be too surprised if we see another Google tablet in the future.
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/20/18693399/google-abandoning-tablets-pixel-slate-failure
Google says it’s done making tablets and cancels two unreleased products
140 comments
The Pixel Slate won’t get a sequel, but the Pixelbook will
By Chris Welch@chriswelch Jun 20, 2019, 3:29pm EDT
Share
Google will not be launching a sequel to last year’s Pixel Slate tablet, according to Business Insider and Computer World, and will instead focus its Chrome OS hardware efforts on traditional laptop devices like the Pixelbook. “For Google’s first-party hardware efforts, we’ll be focusing on Chrome OS laptops and will continue to support Pixel Slate,” a spokesperson told Business Insider.
Translation: you can expect the Slate to continue to receive software and security updates for several years to come — but there won’t be a Pixel Slate 2. Rick Osterloh, who leads Google’s hardware business, confirmed as much on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
Hey, it's true...Google's HARDWARE team will be solely focused on building laptops moving forward, but make no mistake, Android & Chrome OS teams are 100% committed for the long-run on working with our partners on tablets for all segments of the market (consumer, enterprise, edu)
— Rick Osterloh (@rosterloh) June 20, 2019
Google went so far as to reveal that it has axed two in-development tablet products, moving the employees who had been working on them to other areas of the company. (Most have apparently joined the Pixelbook team.) The tablets were both smaller in size than the Pixel Slate and were planned for release “sometime after 2019.” But disappointing quality assurance testing results led Google to completely abandon both devices. Google informed employees of its decision on Wednesday.— Rick Osterloh (@rosterloh) June 20, 2019
Related
Google Pixel Slate review: slapdash
The Pixel Slate received largely mediocre reviews when it went on sale last year. Google earned praise for the device’s hardware design, but the software felt unfinished — Chrome OS has yet to really feel at home on a tablet — and lower-priced versions of the Slate suffered from extremely sluggish performance and lag. It’s rare to see an MKBHD review that’s this bruising:
Google has resolved some of those issues with updates, but more than anything else, the company might have realized that taking on Apple’s iPad was going to be a losing battle. The iPad is offered at multiple price points, has an enormous selection of apps, and is set to gain productivity enhancements this fall with the rollout of iPadOS. And the Slate was never going to best Microsoft’s Surface for consumers really seeking a full-blown desktop PC experience on a tablet.
The Pixelbook, meanwhile, has been met with much better feedback from customers since its release in 2017 owing to its fantastic keyboard, nice screen, lightweight design, and unique style. And it’s now clear that a new model is on the way. A Google spokesperson told Computer World, which also reported on this news, that it’s “very likely” a Pixelbook 2 will see release before the end of 2019.
At the same time, Osterloh is trying to underline that Google has every intention of improving Chrome OS on tablet devices — since several companies including Acer and HP have already released products in that form factor. But Google itself throwing in the towel isn’t a great vote of confidence.
https://phandroid.com/2019/06/20/google-confirms-that-they-are-out-of-the-tablet-business/
google-confirms-that-they-are-out-of-the-tablet-business
Earlier this year, we ran an editorial in which we thought that perhaps it was time for Google to give up on tablets. It seems that maybe Google has agreed because according to a report from Computerworld, they have heard that Google will be stopping work on tablets and will instead be choosing to focus on laptops moving forwards.
The report goes on to claim that Google actually had two new tablets in the works, but ultimately decided to cancel them in favor of utilizing their resources for other projects instead. Google’s SVP of Device and Services Rick Osterloh has since confirmed the report to be true in a tweet where he reassures that while Google themselves will no longer be making tablets, it does not mean that the company will stop supporting the tablet concept as a whole.
This move hardly comes as a surprise because, in a report back in March, the company’s tablets future was cast into uncertainty as Google had reshuffled its employees from its tablet division and told them to find positions in other parts of the company instead. Plus, Google’s recent tablet efforts haven’t exactly been met with resounding success, so why focus on a product category that isn’t doing well?
Note that these changes will apply only to tablets, and that hybrid two-in-one convertibles such as the Pixelbook will continue to be made. We expect that we should hear more about a refresh of the laptop soon, so check back again later for more updates.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/06/google-hardware-quits-the-tablet-business-again/
Subscribe
Sign in
Slated for cancellation —
Google Hardware quits the tablet business, again
The problem-plagued Pixel Slate will not be getting a follow-up.
Ron Amadeo - Friday at undefined
Google and tablets just don't mix. The company tried over and over again to make Android tablets work, peaking with the 2013 Nexus 7 and ending with the Pixel C in 2015.
After a three-year hiatus from the market, Google took a second swing at tablets with Chrome OS and the Pixel Slate. Four months later, we heard Google Hardware's laptop and tablet division was in trouble. Seven months later—in other words, right now—Google's Chrome OS tablets are dead.
Following a report from Computerworld claiming Google cancelled two tablets and was quitting the tablet business, Google Hardware SVP Rick Osterloh confirmed the news on Twitter:
Osterloh later clarified that only tablets would be canceled and that Google is "committed to our many other hardware categories."
ARS TRENDING VIDEO
Ars Technica Live #30: A New Hope For Tech Activism
Google kills product
- Google is killing YouTube’s “Hangouts on Air” this year
- Google Hardware quits the tablet business, again
- This week’s dead Google product is Google Trips, may it rest in peace
- Google kills its Twitch killer—the YouTube Gaming app shuts down this week
- Nest, the company, died at Google I/O 2019
The second big problem was Chrome OS, which, while it had been around on laptops forever, was just getting off the ground as a reworked tablet OS. It was not really ready for the Pixel Slate launch, with a buggy split-screen implementation, poor performance, and a weird UI that used a full-screen mode in tablet form but allowed normal window operation in laptop mode. There were a host of other quirks and issues, but the bottom line was that Google was charging a premium price for hardware and software that felt more "beta" than "premium."
The Computerworld report that triggered Osterloh's statement says Google cancelled two products, both lacking a keyboard and having a smaller body than the 12.3-inch Pixel Slate.
Osterloh promises Google is still focused on the software part of tablet support, even if it isn't investing in hardware. (Just ask Android tablet users how Google tablet support has worked out for them over the years, though.) Saying the team is "focused on building laptops" should mean a new Pixelbook is on the way—the last version released in 2017. That's potentially exciting news assuming you're still willing to invest in a Google product at this point.
https://tw.news.yahoo.com/google-宣佈將終止平板電腦業務-070439333.html
Google 宣佈將終止平板電腦業務
Qooah
1.6k 人追蹤
Richy
2019年6月24日 下午3:04
文章來源：Qooah.com
在流動產品而言，除了智能電話及手提電腦外，從中間著墨的產品相信就是平板電腦。
平板電腦推出的頭幾年，由於屏幕比智能電話大、但比手提電腦方便攜帶，所以受到不少消費者的支持，多家智能電話生產商都推出平板電腦產品。不過近年隨著平板電腦+手提電腦的出現，例如 Microsoft Surface，似乎打開了缺口，再加上智能電話的屏幕尺寸不斷增大，令到平板電腦的歡迎程度不及從前，所以不少生產商都低調推出，甚至停止生產。
現在 Google 發言人也正式宣佈將正式放棄平板電腦業務。除此以外，更取消兩款尚未對外宣佈的設備。被取消的兩款產品尺寸都比12.3吋的 Slate 為小，原計劃於今年推出，而他們的解釋是因為質保問題導致這兩款產品以及整個平板電腦專案被取消。
而受影響的人員大約有20人，並於已於昨日收到通知，其中大部份人預計將會轉到 Pixelbook 筆記型電腦開發團隊中。
根據該發言人表示，他們將會專注 Chrome OS 手提電腦，但仍會繼續支援 Pixel Slate。
