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posted by chromas on Saturday June 02 2018, @10:22PM   Printer-friendly
from the gexit dept.

Google quits selling tablets

Google has quietly crept out of the tablet business, removing the "tablets" heading from its Android page. Perhaps it hoped no one would notice on a Friday and by Monday it would be old news, but Android Police caught them in the act. It was there yesterday, but it's gone today.

[...] Google in particular has struggled to make Android a convincing alternative to iOS in the tablet realm, and with this move has clearly indicated its preference for the Chrome OS side of things, where it has inherited the questionable (but lucrative) legacy of netbooks. They've also been working on broadening Android compatibility with that OS. So it shouldn't come as much surprise that the company is bowing out.

[...] Google's exit doesn't mean Android tablets are done for, of course. They'll still get made, primarily by Samsung, Amazon and a couple of others, and there will probably even be some nice ones. But if Google isn't selling them, it probably isn't prioritizing them as far as features and support.

Also at 9to5Google.

Related: All New Chromebooks to Support Android Apps
The first Chrome OS tablet is here
Apple Expected to Compete Against Chromebooks With Cheaper Education-Focused iPads
ChromeOS Gains the Ability to Run Linux Applications
Ask the Community: In the Market for a Modern Tablet


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by darkfeline on Monday June 04 2018, @08:42AM

    by darkfeline (1030) on Monday June 04 2018, @08:42AM (#688291) Homepage

    Chrome OS runs Android apps, and there are lots of devices with tablet form factors now, so basically you can choose between an Android device or a Chrome OS device that can run the same apps plus more and comes with a keyboard.

    Basically, the average person wants two devices, a smartphone and "something bigger". At first that something was a tablet, but not having a keyboard is annoying which is why there are so many keyboard covers. Netbooks were weak and lacked the large app libraries. Now, it makes sense for that "something bigger" to be a Chrome OS device instead of Android.

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