Google is still selling a few tablets on its official Android website, although the page briefly disappeared due to some technical issues.
When the Android tablets page mysteriously vanished a couple of days ago, it prompted speculation that Google was done selling them, instead choosing to focus on other form factors. The company had made no formal announcement regarding its intentions, but the sudden removal seemed to be a testament that tablets are no longer that popular.
Android Tablets Availability
As smartphones have gotten increasingly bigger and more hybrid devices have hit the market, tablets no longer pose the same appeal they once did. Nevertheless, Google is not ready to give up single-purpose tablets just yet, albeit it only has three slates in its inventory.
As it turns out, however, it was just a bug that caused the page to disappear, and everything is now working normally again. The page is back online and the tablets are now available on the official Android website as if nothing ever happened.
The three tablets currently on sale on the official Android website are the Nvidia Shield Tablet K1, the Sony Xperia Z4, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8.0. Google focused more on smartphone features with its last few versions of Android, while tablets got only a few improvements. This further fueled speculations that it was done with tablets.
Just An Android Website Bug
However, according to Android's senior vice president of platforms and ecosystems, Hiroshi Lockheimer, there's nothing more to the story. Lockheimer says that a bug messed things up a bit when updating the Android website, causing the tablet section to vanish, but the company quickly addressed the issue and the page went back up on Saturday evening.
At the same time, Lockheimer's response was met with questions on whether Google will ever make new Nexus or Pixel tablets again. The company hasn't followed up on its 2015 Pixel C tablets, and there are no signs that it intends to. It has embraced Chrome OS more recently, aiming to take on the education market with Chromebook tablets, while Android slates seem to be getting less and less attention.
A number of OEMs have apparently abandoned the tablet segment, focusing on smartphones and other devices instead. However, some new slates from Huawei and Samsung are still expected to debut later this year.
Are you still interested in buying a tablet, or have they lost their appeal? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
