I hope you weren’t planning on purchasing a new Pixelbook laptop, because Google will no longer be developing it, according to a report Monday from The Verge. The report, citing an unnamed source, detailed that the tech giant has canceled all plans to release the next version of the Pixelbook, and is also transferring the employees building the computer to other teams across the company.
The Pixelbook was rumored to release in 2023, and was reportedly “far along in development.” As recently as May 2022, Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh said there would be future Pixelbooks.
Read also: Google Announces Fall Pixel Event on Oct. 6
This move seems to be part of the company’s effort to save money. The report cites that Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO, has recently stated that Google intends to cut back on hiring and cut some projects in light of recent economic hardships.
Watch this: Google’s 2022 Pixel Lineup
8:04
“In some cases, that means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes,” Pichai wrote in a July memo. “In other cases, that means pausing development and re-deploying resources to higher priority areas.”
Google began its Pixel branding in 2017 with the first Pixelbook Chromebook. The tech giant released the Pixelbook Go, an ultra lightweight Chromebook, in 2019. Google has also launched Pixel phones — announcing its Pixel 7 Series at the annual Google developer conference in May — Pixel earbuds and is reportedly set to release its first Pixel smartwatch this fall.
Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
