Google has disbanded the Pixelbook team, sources say

Google has canceled its next-generation Pixelbook laptop and disbanded the team responsible, according to The Verge.

According to a person familiar with the matter, the device was on a long development schedule and was expected to make its debut next year, but the project has been canceled as part of Google's recent internal cost-cutting measures. Members of the team have been internally reassigned.

Just a few months ago, Google was planning to continue working on the Pixelbook, and ahead of its annual I/O developer conference, Google hardware chief Rick Osterloh told The Verge that "we'll do Pixelbooks in the future. But he also acknowledged that the Chromebook market has changed since the first-generation Pixelbook launched in 2017, or that Google no longer needs to be there in person.

For months, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has been saying that he intends to slow down hiring and cancel some of the company's projects. "In some cases, this means consolidating where investments overlap and streamlining processes," he wrote in a July memo. "In other cases, it means suspending development and redeploying resources to higher priority areas." It appears that the Pixelbook team and Pixelbook are casualties of this consolidation and redeployment.

Google's communications manager Laura Breen responded to The Verge saying, "Google does not share information about future product plans or people; however, we are committed to building and supporting a range of innovative Google products that will help our users. With respect to our people, we will work to transition team members across devices and services when we do shift priorities."

Google has spent nearly a decade trying to prove to the world that there is a market for high-end Chromebooks. When the first Chromebook, the Pixel, was launched in 2013, pricing hit $1,300 (about Rs. 8,996). While Google hasn't announced sales of the Chromebook, it's clearly too expensive to really make a splash in the broader laptop market.

In 2017, Google introduced the new Pixelbook, a reversible device that can be used like a tablet. Google even introduced a stylus for it called the Pixelbook Pen. the Pixelbook also has a built-in Google Assistant that connects to Pixel phones and can even run Android apps.

The Pixelbook Go and Pixelbook Slate have been in the works until 2019, when Chromebooks finally gained the approval of Acer, Asus and many other manufacturers to try out this device category and thrive in the education market.