The Google Pixel C, the latest Android-based tablet from Google, has quietly been removed from the Google Store. It signals the end of sales for the 2015 tablet that was met with mix results both from a sales and overall satisfaction perspective. The 10.2″ tablet was released in September 2015 and shipped with Android Marshmallow. It was upgraded last year to Nougat and the latest update to Oreo rolled out in October.
The Pixel C was power packed and from a specifications perspective, was hard to top. But it was released at a time when many were beginning to question the need for a tablet at all. Rumors at the time were pointing to Android apps coming to Chrome OS or, perhaps, a melding of the two (Project Andromeda) which made it curious about releasing a tablet at the time. Indeed rumors persist that the Google Pixel C was actually slated to run Chrome OS but was switched at the last minute to Android.
If you look at the Google Pixelbook, it is not hard to see the family lineage from the Pixel C to it. Arguably you could say that without the Pixel C, the Pixelbook could have looked quite different than it does today.
With the tablet now out of the Google lineup online, the company doesn’t offer a tablet only option and it is quite possible they won’t offer one again. With convertibles like the Pixelbook, the ASUS Flip C302 , the Samsung Chromebook Plus and Pro, as well as other Chromebooks that can now run Android apps, the question of if a tablet form factor is needed is a legitimate one indeed.
For those of you who have a Google Pixel C, enjoy it. Support will be ending for it from a software update perspective next year with Android Oreo being the last major update expected for the tablet.
