Google seems to have called it quits on making its own Android tablets—again

Depending on which Android-focused site you believe, either a third Pixel Tablet was apparently in the works at Google and canceled, as Android Headlines reported, or the second one, as Android Authority has it. Either way, there was reportedly a team at Google working on the next flagship Pixel-branded tablet, and now, seemingly due to profitability concerns, that work is over. At least until, maybe, a third Pixel Tablet in the future.

The Pixel Tablet, released last fall, was generally regarded as Google's second re-entry into the tablet market that the iPad all but owns, at least at the consumer level. As such, it sought to distinguish itself from Apple's slab by launching with a home-friendly dock and speaker cradle, taking on the appearance of a big smart home display when docked to it.

While there are no public sales figures, the device has not kick-started a resurgence of interest in Android tablets beyond the baseline sales of Amazon's Kindle Fire devices (based on a Google-less fork of Android). Google will likely continue to support and promote Android tablets for other manufacturers and now has its own Pixel Fold devices occupying that middle space between phone and tablet forms.

Ars has contacted Google for comment and confirmation and will update this post with its response.

Android tablets, made by Google and by others, have been many things over the years. After some weird initial fits and starts with the bulky Motorola Xoom, Samsung's Galaxy Tabs, and Amazon's discount Fire line, Google worked closely with Asus to release the Nexus 7 in 2012. That device was the right size, the right price, and felt remarkably free of the cruft usually packed into such devices by manufacturers, carriers, and bundle-seeking sponsors. The 2013 follow-up was even better and is still remembered fondly as the perfect kind of "slightly bigger phone" that worked well with the Android of that time.

After the Nexus 7, there were other attempts: a Nexus 9 that was a problematic sibling; and 2015's Pixel C, a device that seemed like it really wanted to be a productivity tablet running Chrome OS, but instead reminded everyone of how Android was not ready for multiple windows and keyboards. The Pixel Slate was Google's actual Chrome OS tablet; it, too, struggled to find its very specific audience.

Google publicly called it quits on making its own tablets in 2019. Google then revamped its tablet support with Android 12L in 2022, updated most of its own apps to work better on bigger screens, and launched the Pixel Tablet in 2023. Now, it seems, Google is back to its support role, ready to help other manufacturers that want to try to decouple the public's strong association of "tablet" with "iPad." Android Authority's report suggests that a future generation of Pixel Tablets, one with external display support and more ports, could still be in the works.