History is repeating itself at Google which once again seems to be throwing in the towel on the tablet market. After the relative failure of the Pixel Tablet launched in 2023, the Mountain View giant has reportedly decided to cancel the development of its successor. News which is strangely reminiscent of the abandonment of 2019, when Google had already given up on this segment following negative reviews of its Pixel Slate. This is yet another product that the research specialist is about to abandon.
A commercial failure that leads to abandonment
According to cross-information fromAndroid Authority And The VergeGoogle has reportedly made the decision to stop development of the Pixel Tablet 2, codenamed “kiyomi”. This decision would be motivated by disappointing sales of the first generation and fears of financial losses on a new model. However, recent rumors still mentioned the arrival of a keyboard accessory and new features.
The Pixel Tablet, marketed at €599 with its docking station (currently at €349 alone), will therefore not have succeeded in establishing itself against Apple’s iPad. A situation which is reminiscent of the historical difficulties of Android in the tablet market, where the system still suffers from a lack of optimized applications compared to iPadOS.
On the other hand, confusion remains over the fate reserved for the Pixel Tablet 3 planned for 2027. We do not know if the development of this one has been abandoned to the extent that some sources claim that it would still be on track. We will know more in a few months, but its future is clearly uncertain.
What future for large screens at Google?
If Google seems to abandon classic tablets, the company could refocus its efforts on other formats. The Nest division could notably take over by developing new fixed screen devices, in line with the current Nest Hub and Hub Max. The idea would be to push home automation to compete with the Amazon Echo and a potential connected touch screen from Apple. It also wants to strengthen its computers under ChromeOS.
This news once again confirms the domination of the iPad in this market. While Apple’s tablet is celebrating its 13th anniversary with constant success, Google is still struggling to offer a viable Android alternative in the long term, despite some promising attempts like the Nexus 7 at the time. It is interesting to note that this decision comes in a context where Apple continues to dominate the tablet market, with a market share exceeding 36% last quarter according to IDC. The difficulty for Google to compete with the iPad/iPadOS ecosystem therefore seems to have got the better of its ambitions in this sector. It is clear that in the tablet market, it is essential to have perfect mastery of the software and hardware to hope to succeed, and Apple has a big head start.
