Google Backs Out of The Android Tablet Business

• Google removed its Tablets category from its Android page earlier today.
• With industry experts calling tablets and Android tablets not doing very well in the market outside of the Kindle Fire devices, it was a move that was expected by many.
• Google has always struggled to compete against iOS in the tablet market and is likely to focus on Chrome OS in the future.

Google has removed its Tablets category from its Android page earlier today with no official comment being made by the company regarding the move. Android tablets have always struggled against iOS-based iPads and regular Windows notebooks when it comes to offering a portable computing experience. The tech giant’s Nexus lineup of tablets, which failed to make an impact in the tablet market. Apple has been dominating sales figures with over 40 million of the 160 million global tablet shipments being iPads.

The only Android tablet devices that have significant sales records include the Kindle Fire lineup of tablets which go for as low as $40 due to Amazon’s highly subsidized pricing. With Amazon’s devices designed for light usage as kid’s tablets or as a means of distraction on the go. Google’s Android OS does not seem to be doing well for tablet manufacturers, and Google will be pushing its Chrome OS instead of in the future.

Image Courtesy of WCCFTech

However, tablet sales declining as a whole does not have to mean people are less interested in buying them. With most users using tablets for media consumption, a yearly hardware upgrade is not necessary. According to Strategic Analysis, tablet users do not see a reason to upgrade their devices unless major hardware upgrades that add to the overall experience are introduced.

The move by Google does not indicate that Android tablets will cease to exist as companies like Amazon and Samsung will continue producing tablets. However, Google may stop prioritizing tablet features for Android when developing future versions of Android. We can expect new Chrome OS devices to replace Google’s Android tablets sometime this year and other hardware manufacturers have already partnered with the Chrome OS project to offer web-based portable computing experiences.