According to 9to5Google, a new job listing for a senior engineering manager posted by the tech company hints at Google’s renewed focus on tablets. The listing points to growing out the “Android Tablet App Experience.” “We believe that the future of computing is shifting towards more powerful and capable tablets,” Google’s job listing reads. “We are working to deliver the next chapter of computing and input by launching seamless support across our platforms and hero experiences that unlock new and better ways of being productive and creative.” The job describes a wide variety of responsibilities to beef up Google’s tablet efforts, including leading the Android Tablet App Experiences Engineering team and “[running] the execution of our ink first hero apps strategy,” which could potentially mean a smart pen to go with a tablet. In 2019, Google announced it would focus its hardware division on laptops rather than Google-made tablets. The tech giant developed tablets for years, such as the Google Nexus, Google Pixel C, and the Google Pixel Slate. Still, they never reached the popularity level of Apple’s iPads. Right now, Android’s website lists three available tablets you can purchase on its site: the Onn 10.1, the Onn 7, and the Lenovo Tab P11 Plus. Market reports show that tablets aren’t as successful as other devices, despite the hybrid work environment we have adopted. For example, Apple’s recent quarterly report shows the iPad had the least net sales year-over-year compared to the company’s other products and services. In addition, The International Data Corporation (IDC) showed that the fourth quarter of 2021 saw a decline in the shipments of tablets by 11.9% when compared to Q4 in 2020. However, the tablet market is still expected to grow in the coming years, which is why Google might be revisiting it. According to a Global Tablet PC Market Report, the global tablet market is expected to reach $3.5 billion by the end of 2026. The IDC’s report also shows that for the entire year in 2021, total tablet shipments were up 3.2%, which is the highest they have been since 2016.
