Google Reportedly Cancels Pixel Tablet 3 In Major Hardware Strategy Shift

Apparently Google can't decide what strategy to take with its tablet products. Word off the vine is now saying that the Pixel Tablet 3 project has been cancelled. This raises questions such as how this drives system and app support for the current Pixel Tablet (as well as the rumored 2025 Pixel Tablet 2), and whether this means Google intends on dropping from the race altogether or if it's merely altering its tablet strategy (to focus on foldables, for example).

Even though the Pixel Tablet 2 is merely a rumor at this point, a new report believes that the tablet may not have a successor. Individuals close to the "Kiyomi" project (a.k.a. Pixel Tablet 3) asserted that Google made the decision some time last week to nix the program and proceeded to reassign teams to other projects.

Assuming this is true, we can imagine two outcomes for Google and its customers moving forward. First, the public will simply lose interest and faith in the Pixel Tablet ecosystem. Considering how much Mountain View put into building interest for the first generation tablet, showing the world that you've given up just as quickly as you started will send customers in droves back to Samsung and Apple for tablet alternatives. Besides, Google has a long and frequent habit of terminating products—Nexus tablets and Pixel Slates, to name a few—seemingly at will, so this theory holds some credence.

The second possibility is that Google might be thinking about the tablet form factor and how it aligns rather closely with foldable devices, such as the Pixel Fold. It wouldn't be surprising to us if the tech giant decided to merge efforts and go all-in on foldables, whether it ultimately becomes a new foldable Pixel Tablet or a Pixel Fold branch-off.

Considering how promising the first Pixel Tablet was, we hope that Google is taking the second route to realign focus on foldables instead of traditional tablets per se. By itself, the Pixel Tablet was less the premium device that people had hoped, but the speaker dock capability was really what made it stand out and unique. We have limited information on the Tablet 2 at the moment, although that it's expected to drop next year with upgraded cameras and a keyboard case option.