Google Gives Up On Tablets, Kills Pixel Slate Successors

"Chrome OS has grown in popularity across a broad range of form factors, and we'll continue to work with our ecosystem of partners on laptops and tablets,” said a Google spokesperson in a statement to Business Insider. “For Google's first-party hardware efforts, we'll be focusing on Chrome OS laptops and will continue to support Pixel Slate."

Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh followed up on that statement with a tweet:

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

In other words, there won’t be a Pixel Slate 2 and the other rumored Pixel tablets that were in development have been canceled. However, Google is known for its generally excellent hardware support, so you can expect to see software updates for the original Pixel Slate for years to come. 

Google employees that were originally working on the Pixel Slate successors have reportedly been shifted to Pixelbook development. Early in its life, the Pixel Slate was plagued with performance woes despite its relatively stout hardware, which Google eventually corrected. There were also some constructive criticism regarding the suitability of Chrome OS in a tablet form-factor.

The Pixel Slate was released late last year, and is powered by Intel Core processors (topping out with an 8th generation Core i7). The 1.6-pound tablet is priced from $599, but often times can be had for a bit less with Google’s frequent hardware sales.