Google confirms it canceled its first foldable phone because it wasn’t ‘good enough’
Google has confirmed that it was working on another foldable phone before the Pixel Fold, but canceled it because it wasn’t ready for prime time. The revelation came from the company’s head of design for hardware products, Ivy Ross, during the latest episode of the Made by Google podcast.
While Ross didn’t reveal much about the mystery foldable, he did claim that the team made the decision to cancel it as it was deemed to be “not good enough yet.” Instead, the engineers kept working on newer designs until they could come up with “something that was good enough or better than what was out there already.” The Pixel Fold may have received a lukewarm response from the media, but if Ross is to be believed, it is certainly better than the canceled model.
Rumors about a Google foldable were doing the rounds for years before the launch of the Pixel Fold. One such device is believed to have been codenamed ‘Pipit’ and was expected to launch last year with Android 12L. It was rumored to have the same form factor as the Pixel Fold and was expected to be powered by the same GS101 Tensor chip as the Pixel 6. However, as we all know by now, the device never saw the light of day, so it’s possible that it was the canceled device that Ross was alluding to.
Meanwhile, following the launch of the Pixel Fold, Google is said to be working on a new foldable with the clamshell form factor like the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and the Oppo Find N2 Flip. There are very few details about the rumored device, but if does make it to production, it could be relatively more affordable than the $1,799 Pixel Fold. Online speculations suggest that it could launch next year with the Tensor G3 under its hood, so it will be interesting to see what Google has in store for foldable aficionados over the next year or so.
