Google Not Killing Off Chromebooks Despite Previous Reports

Early this week, reports saying Google is killing off its Chromebooks series surfaced after the company’s hardware senior vice president Rock Osterloh was interviewed at Mobile World Congress 2017. The reports claimed the Chrome OS-running, Pixel-branded laptops have been discontinued by the Mountain View giant. Apparently, such reports are not at all true.

Osterloh has come out to correct the misinformation about Google’s budget-friendly laptop series. According to him, his statement at MWC 2017 may have been taken out of context, and this was what led many people to believe that Google does not intend to release more Chromebooks.

On Twitter, Osterloh clarified that Google is still building new Chromebooks, but the company does not have plans to release one as of this time. He wrote, “Hey all, Google’s own Chromebooks aren’t ‘dead‘ as has been reported. They will live on, we just have *no plans to share at this time* ;)”

According to TechnoBuffalo, it just makes sense for Google to continue with its Chromebooks business. After all, it is among the companies creating high-end Chromebooks that many people really appreciate and prefer over regular Windows-running laptops. The Google hardware is also seen by many as a good alternative to expensive Windows and Mac OS-powered portable computers.

Google introduced its first Chromebook Pixel device in 2013 and released a follow-up in 2015. Two years ago, Time reported that Chromebooks did well in the market with the education sector comprising 72 percent of the sales. In 2014, Chromebooks even beat out Apple’s iPad shipments to schools because they are cheaper and they appeal to users who simply want a practical device for school work.

At present, there's already a large number of Chromebooks up for grabs in the market. Samsung, Asus, Dell, Acer and HP have since joined Google in providing consumers with more Chrome OS-running laptop options.