Google Ends Development, Production of Pixelbook Laptops to Cut Costs

Google has decided to end development and production of its Pixelbook laptop, a recently surfaced internal memo revealed.

The memo, first leaked by The Verge, also showed that Google has likewise "shut down" the team that behind the design an development of the next generation of the device, which had reportedly been "far along in development."

The company apparently opted to realign resources away from its premium Chromebook to seemingly cut on costs. Members of the Pixelbook team have reportedly been moved to other divisions at Google.

Google Cancels Laptop-Making 'Experiment'

This means Google will no longer make laptops after nearly ten years experimenting with notebooks. In 2013, the company introduced the Chromebook Pixel, which is the first Google-made hardware to get the Pixel brand, and subsequently upgraded it with a more expensive model two years after. In 2017, Google then changed its laptop strategy when the first Pixelbook was introduced as a high-end iteration of the low-cost Chromebooks. The Pixelbook was first priced at $999, and came with an optional Pixelbook Pen accessory.

Google then introduced the $649 Pixelbook Go in 2019 as a more affordable, but still high-end Chromebook with the Pixel branding. While the Pixel-branded Chromebooks were made to present how the Chrome OS can be combined with more premium hardware, the devices were never as popular as the cheaper alternatives that have long populated classrooms, especially during the pandemic.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent firm Alphabet, Inc, has been indicating for several months that he wants to slow down hiring and shelve some projects across Google. In a July memo, Pichai said that this would mean "consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes." Pichai added this would also mean "Ipausing development and re-deploying resources to higher priority areas." The Pixelbook team and the Pixelbook itself were obviously the casualties of that consolidation and redeployment move.

Google's hardware strategy, specifically with the Pixel devices, has focused on making good products and to guide other manufacturers on how to similarly do it. It began investing in Pixel phones as a way to present how Google could make its own Android phones. More recently, the company has started making smartwatches, with the Pixel Watch to roll out in a few weeks, and in building an Android tablet due for unveiling next year. Both of those latter devices are part of categories wherein most Android-run devices have failed. Google is trying to convince developers, manufacturers, and customers that such devices that run on Android can also turn out good.

Niche Devices with High Price Tags Can't Compete in Broader Laptop Market

Google also spent nearly a decade trying to prove that a high-end Android-run Chromebook was a good device. With the first Chromebook Pixel in 2013, it put ChromeOS onto a high-end, gorgeous $1,300 device. While former CEO Eric Schmidt saw the ChromeOS as running on disposable hardware, Google had since made the best hardware. Still, the Pixel and the later Pixelbook models ended up as niche devices with high price tags, and while Google isn't that open in revealing Chromebook sales, the device was too expensive to make a competitive edge in the broader laptop market.