Google throws in the towel

According to Leifeng.com, on June 20, Google officially confirmed that it will not launch any more tablets in the future and stopped two products under development; in the future, Google will focus on the development of Pixelbook. This means that the Pixel Slate released last year has become Google's final product in the tablet field, and Google will not launch any new tablets.

In a sense, Google has admitted defeat.

In 2010, Steve Jobs launched the first generation of iPad. Although many people ridiculed the iPad as a "large iPhone", the sales of iPad were unexpected - 1 million units were sold in less than a month after its launch, which was faster than the iPhone at the time. Subsequently, other technology giants also wanted to try their hand in this field, including Google.

In the Q1 2012 financial conference call, Google founder Larry Page hinted that Google would soon launch a cheap tablet computer; then, at the Google I/O conference of the same year, Google launched the first generation of Nexus 7 with a starting price of $199. Strictly speaking, the first generation of Nexus 7 is Google's first tablet computer; in terms of price, Larry Page also fulfilled his promise, this is indeed a "cheap" tablet computer, after all, the third generation of iPad released in the same year started at $499.

In the next few years, Google continued to upgrade Nexus 7 to the second generation and launched Nexus 9/10; in 2015, it also launched a new tablet product Pixel C. All of these tablet devices are equipped with the Android operating system.

Unfortunately, the sales of Nexus tablets have been disappointing. In 2016, Google even quietly removed the Nexus 9 from its official store, the only remaining Nexus tablet at the time. HTC, the OEM for Nexus 9, also responded that the company had completely stopped production of the device. Google Nexus tablets were thus swallowed up by the torrent of history.

Without the Nexus series, could the Pixel C be Google's way of helping to save the day?

In fact, Pixel C cannot completely replace Nexus, because the positioning of the two is different, both in terms of the product itself and the sales strategy. We can understand that Nexus is easy to use, affordable, and suitable for the consumption level of the general public, while Pixel C is a more professional device that emphasizes productivity and costs nearly $500.

All of these differences make the Pixel C less appealing, so it's unlikely to make up for the Nexus' "loss" in a meaningful way.

There is another reason why Nexus was "retired" in 2016, which cannot be ignored. It was a low point for tablets.

According to market research firm IDC, global tablet shipments reached 206.8 million units in 2015, down 10.1% year-on-year from 230.1 million units in 2014; the previous downward trend continued in the first quarter of 2016, with the global tablet market shrinking for six consecutive quarters.

Leifeng.com Note: The above picture is from IDC's 2015 Tablet PC Market Report

Although Apple's iPad shipments also suffered a setback, with a 21.8% decrease in 2015 compared to 2014, overall, the iPad still occupies a large market share of 24.0%; it can be said that the iPad's market share is far beyond the reach of many Android tablet manufacturers. This is still the case today.

According to a report released by IDC in January this year, in 2018, the global tablet market shipments fell by 11.4% year-on-year; however, Apple still ranked first with a market share of 29.6%. The popularity of the iPad is largely due to the iOS system, and with each generation of updates, iOS has become more mature. (Leifeng.com: Apple is about to launch iPadOS to replace iOS on iPad devices.)

Unlike the closed iOS, Android is based on an open ecosystem, on which any hardware manufacturer can develop its own systems and devices; such openness has led to uneven quality of devices equipped with the Android operating system, and has even reduced the competitiveness of Android tablets.

As Google continues to worry about the development of its tablet computer, Chrome OS, Google's operating system for PCs, is also evolving.

At that time, IDC data showed that tablet computers that serve as light productivity tools are expected to become the mainstream of the tablet computer market in the future: in Q1 2018, the market share of detachable tablet computers such as Microsoft Surface and iPad Pro continued to increase, with an annual growth rate of nearly 3%; sales of traditional tablet computers continued to decline, down 13.9% year-on-year.

Google has also begun to change its strategy, no longer using the traditional Android operating system, and shifting its focus to Chrome OS, because in the future tablet computer market where lightweight office equipment will be the mainstream, Chrome OS is expected to be more popular than Android.

So, in March 2018, Google and Acer jointly launched the first Chrome OS tablet; at the Made By Google hardware launch conference in October of the same year, Google's first tablet equipped with Chrome OS, Pixel Slate, was officially unveiled. This product is also compatible with the Android operating system - the traditional interface is Android, and it switches to Chrome OS after connecting a mouse or keyboard. It is worth mentioning that Pixel Slate is also equipped with an Intel desktop processor, while most products of the same period are equipped with mobile phone processors.

The birth of Pixel Slate is a milestone for Google's tablet business. IDC analyst Jitesh Ubrani also said that Chrome OS's entry into the detachable tablet market is a gratifying change, which has made Google more competitive.

In theory, the highly anticipated Pixel Slate is powerful, but it also has some problems. According to The Verge, the Pixel Slate has indeed won praise on the hardware level, but there is still room for improvement on the software level, and Chrome OS is not well adapted to the tablet.

Although Google has been working to solve the problem, it may have realized that competing with the iPad is doomed to fail - the iPad offers models at a variety of prices and has a large number of applications. With the launch of iPadOS, the productivity of the iPad will also be greatly improved; and for those consumers who are trying to seek a PC experience on a tablet, the Pixel Slate will not be their best choice.

From this perspective, abandoning the tablet market may be the result of Google recognizing reality and shifting the focus of Chrome OS back to traditional laptops such as Pixelbook.

It is worth mentioning that Google has officially announced the discontinuation of its tablet business and the two products under development have also been stopped, but Google will continue to provide software update services for Pixel Slate; moreover, Google will continue to provide support to other hardware manufacturers and develop more tablet devices based on Chrome OS.

Of course, from the perspective of business development, Google's abandonment of the tablet device means that Google has begun to adopt a more streamlined hardware product strategy. For Google, which is experiencing a decline in advertising revenue, this is also a smart move to reduce investment and stop losses in time - returning to its familiar software service role may not be a bad thing for Google.

▎Apple recalls 63,000 MacBook Pros; Google announces it will abandon its tablet business; Toutiao responds to being sued for infringement: Contacts are not private

▎Come and grab a seat! The agenda for the 2019 Global Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Summit is out

▎Why was TSMC able to mass-produce the world’s first 5nm shortly after Intel mass-produced 10nm?

▎Ma Huateng commented on Facebook's cryptocurrency: the technology is mature; ofo responded to the 250 million yuan lawsuit; Apple began internal testing of Apple Card