It's official: Google is giving up on tablets.
Google confirmed today that it will no longer make tablet hardware. A Google spokesperson confirmed this news to Computerworld and Business Insider, and Google's own Rick Osterloh tweeted out that "Google's hardware team will be solely focused on building laptops moving forward".
Interestingly, Google did have two new tablet devices in development, but they've both been canceled this week. Little is known about these two tablets, but they're described as being smaller in size.
Now that it's done making tablets, Google plans to focus on making laptop devices.
Osterloh also clarified that while Google will no longer be making tablets, that doesn't mean that there will not be any more tablets coming to market. "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)," Osterloh explained. He added that Google plans to support last year's Pixel Slate "for the long-term", too.
Considering Google's recent history with tablets, it's not terribly surprising to hear that the company doesn't want to make any more of them. The last Android tablet that Google made was the Pixel C that launched in 2015, and last year it launched the Pixel Slate with Chrome OS, but that device received a lot of negative reviews due to its price and performance. Now Google will focus on laptops like the Pixelbook, a Chrome OS laptop that launched in 2017 and has received a lot more love than its Pixel Slate sibling.