Google has canceled the next-generation Pixelbook laptop and disbanded the team in charge. The device was long in development and was expected to debut next year, but the project has been scrapped as part of recent cost-cutting measures within Google, according to a person familiar with the matter. Members of this team have been transferred internally.
Just a few months ago, Google planned to continue developing the Pixelbook. "We're going to be doing Pixelbooks in the future," Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh told The Verge ahead of the annual I/O developer conference. But he also acknowledged that the Chromebook market has changed since the launch of the first-generation Pixelbook in 2017, or that it no longer needs Google to step down.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been saying for months that he intends to slow hiring and cancel some of the company's programs. "In some cases, that means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes," he wrote in a July memo. "In other cases, that means pausing development and redeploying resources to higher priority areas." It appears that the Pixelbook team and Pixelbook are victims of this consolidation and redeployment.
Google's communications manager Laura Brin told The Verge: "Google does not share future product plans or personnel information; however, we are committed to building and supporting a range of innovative Google products that are helpful to our users. "With regards to our people, when we do shift priorities, there will be an effort to transition team members across devices and services."
Google has spent nearly a decade trying to prove to the world that there is a market for high-end Chromebooks. When the first Chromebook Pixel was launched in 2013, it was priced at $ 1,300. While Google doesn't break out Chromebook sales, it's clearly too expensive to really make a splash in the wider laptop market.
In 2017, Google introduced the new Pixelbook, a flip-up device that can be used like a tablet. Google even introduced a stylus for it called the Pixelbook Pen. The Pixelbook also has Google Assistant built-in, can connect to a Pixel phone, and can even run Android apps.
After the Pixel Slate, Pixelbook Go, and other product changes, until 2019, Chromebook was finally recognized by Acer, Asus, and other manufacturers, and began to try to lay out this device category, and flourished in the education market.
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