Google Says Farewell To 2015-Era Pixel C Android Tablet
The time has come to pour one out for the Pixel C, Google's flagship Android tablet that was introduced around two years ago. Starting at $499 for a version with 32GB of onboard storage, the Pixel C took aim at the premium tablet sector and was an alternative to Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 and Apple's iPad Pro. It never gained much traction, however, and Google has now removed the Pixel C from its web store.
Price may have been the Pixel C's undoing, or at least part of the reason why it never caught on. Running Android instead of Chrome OS, $499 was a tough ask ($599 for the 64GB model), and Google charged another $149 for a keyboard accessory. So to go all-in with the higher storage variant, buyers were looking at spending around $750 on a tablet with an OS that is not really tuned for productivity.
The hardware was a different story, at least for an Android tablet. Google's Pixel C packed a 10.2-inch IPS display with a 2560x1800 resolution powered by NVIDIA's Tegra X1 processor and 3GB of RAM. It also wielded a USB-C port, a somewhat rare amenity at the time. It still wasn't as well equipped as the Surface Pro 3 or iPad Pro, but certainly a step above many regular tablets.
Timing was also a factor in the Pixel C's somewhat lackluster debut. In the months that followed, global tablet sales would see a sharp decline. There was some initial optimism of a rebound, but by the first quarter of 2017 when tablets experienced its tenth consecutive quarter of declining shipments, it was pretty clear that the run was over. Google seems to have read the writing on the wall, at least it pertains to the Pixel C.
Price may have been the Pixel C's undoing, or at least part of the reason why it never caught on. Running Android instead of Chrome OS, $499 was a tough ask ($599 for the 64GB model), and Google charged another $149 for a keyboard accessory. So to go all-in with the higher storage variant, buyers were looking at spending around $750 on a tablet with an OS that is not really tuned for productivity.
The hardware was a different story, at least for an Android tablet. Google's Pixel C packed a 10.2-inch IPS display with a 2560x1800 resolution powered by NVIDIA's Tegra X1 processor and 3GB of RAM. It also wielded a USB-C port, a somewhat rare amenity at the time. It still wasn't as well equipped as the Surface Pro 3 or iPad Pro, but certainly a step above many regular tablets.
Timing was also a factor in the Pixel C's somewhat lackluster debut. In the months that followed, global tablet sales would see a sharp decline. There was some initial optimism of a rebound, but by the first quarter of 2017 when tablets experienced its tenth consecutive quarter of declining shipments, it was pretty clear that the run was over. Google seems to have read the writing on the wall, at least it pertains to the Pixel C.
