Here's why Google won't compete with Samsung's tablets in the near future

Samsung has been making Android tablets for 15 years. While Google launched its first tablet, the Nexus 7, in 2012 and followed up with the terrible Pixel C in 2015, it stopped making tablets until the Pixel Tablet was released in 2023. However, Google still remains unclear about its direction for tablets, so it will not compete with Samsung’s tablets for the foreseeable future.

Some people hoped to see a successor to the Pixel Tablet during Google's launch event last week. The company launched four Pixel phones, Pixel Buds, and the Pixel Watch 4 during the event but there was no sign of a tablet. Later, Google's executives revealed to Bloomberg that the company has paused development of tablets until “it figures out a meaningful future for the category.“

It means Samsung's Galaxy Tab devices won't have any competition from Google. The company is also not developing any smart ring, which is good for the Galaxy Ring. The internet search giant seems to believe that consumers won't be carrying much else apart from their phone, smartwatch, earbuds, and smart glasses for the foreseeable future.

It is astonishing to know that a giant software firm like Google, which has been developing the Android operating system for two decades has no idea what to do with tablets. Apple and Samsung on the other hand have been selling millions of tablets every year. Maybe Google doesn't want to admit that it's bad in designing tablet software.

That doesn't mean Google won't bring tablet-specific improvements to Android. Since its recommitment to big-screen devices in 2022 with Android 12L, the company has introduced design improvements to its own apps and encouraged other developers to build apps that are optimized to take better advantage of big screens on foldable phones and tablets.

If you are someone who was hoping to buy a Google Pixel tablet in the future, you would be better off waiting for one of Samsung's upcoming tablets: Galaxy Tab S10 Lite, Galaxy Tab S11, and Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. While the Galaxy Tab S10 Lite is an affordable tablet with an LCD screen and an S Pen, both Galaxy Tab S11 series tablets feature a 120Hz OLED screen and MediaTek's flagship 3nm Dimensity processor.