At the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Google’s senior VP for hardware Rick Osterloh surprised journalists when he hinted that Chromebook Pixel laptops have hit the end of the line. Osterloh said that the company has “no plans to do one right now,” when asked if the search giant is to make more Pixel laptops. The first Chromebook Pixel was launched in 2013, with Google making an upgraded follow up two years later. The Pixel brand was Google’s way of presenting manufacturers with an idea of what a premium Chromebook is supposed to be, and is the first to showcase a touch screen feature.
The first Pixel laptop was also the proof that the company can compete with other laptop manufacturers, Apple to be exact.
These days, Pixel is being used for the company’s own new smartphones, which saw great success in the market. However, the company is struggling with supply and demand issues, the exec said himself.
Chromebook Pixels are currently sold out
Osterloh further revealed that the Pixel laptops are no longer available in the market, adding that the company has no plans of producing more from the line. Lucky shoppers still get to buy the Pixel C tablet, but going through the Google Store, it’s apparent that the Chromebook Pixel laptops are no longer available. On the other hand, there are still a lot of third-party Chromebooks available.
Users who enjoy the Chrome OS still have a reason to rejoice; however, as Osterloh announced that it will still be available. “Chrome OS is a huge initiative in the company,” the exec said. The company has one of the biggest market shares in both US and the UK, but Google laptops are being shelved, at least for now.
Google isn’t completely abandoning its laptop line
The prospect of building laptops had not been shut down by Google, Osterloh later saying that the company has no plans to discuss the issue as of the moment. What this means is that Google may still manufacturer laptops in the future, albeit the questionability of the Pixel brand.
