A history of Google tablets: The Nexus and Pixel slates that are no more

Google’s hardware division stepped away from tablets on 2019, concentrating its efforts into laptops. The news was confirmed via Twitter, thanks to Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of devices and services at Google, following reports that the announcement had been made in an internal Google meeting.

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 was keen to stress that it would continue to support the Pixel Slate, but it has drawn a line under its tablets business, meaning that it won’t develop anything else in-house – that will be left to partners. Of course, software support from Android and Chrome OS will continue for tablets. 

A Google spokesperson shared an official comment at the time, saying: “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. For Google’s first-party hardware efforts, we’ll be focusing on Chrome OS laptops and will continue to support Pixel Slate.”

Google’s tablet business doesn’t have an especially rich history through the Nexus and Pixel programmes, but here’s a run-down of the tablets that have graced Google’s shelves.