Pixel Slate
Here is a product that seemed like a good idea, looked the part, and then fell flat on its face at launch. The Pixel Slate was a detachable tablet similar to Microsoft’s Surface Pro, except it was a Chromebook running Google’s Chrome OS. The Pixel Slate launched at a time when it appeared Android tablets had conceded to the iPad and were on the verge of extinction.
But then something strange happened: the Pixel Slate was a buggy mess when it went on sale in 2018. It failed to gain a foothold in the market, and Google said it was done making tablets within months. The story doesn’t end here, because as the Pixel Slate was tanking, Android tablets were making an unexpected resurgence thanks to Samsung’s Galaxy Tab series. This takes us right up to 2022, when Google teased an upcoming Pixel tablet running on Android instead of Chrome.
