It appears Google may have overestimated the popularity of its Chromebooks and Pixel tablets in the current smart market. So much so that the search engine is shrinking the Google Create division and instructing staff within the division to transfer over into other groups within Alphabet.
According to a Business Insider report, the request to transfer by Google has been on-going for the past two weeks. The affected staff include hardware engineers, technical managers, as well as program manager supporters.
The shifting around comes at a time when – according to an employee inside Google – the Create division had “a bunch of stuff” already in the works. Needless to say, the development of said “stuff” has undoubtedly been put on hold.
It’s no secret that over the past several years, Google has struggled with its Chromebooks, Pixelbooks, and Pixel tablets. An industry that is fiercely competitive and yields razor thin profit margins.
Google has somewhat made it clear that its actions are “temporary”, and that there is a possibility that the search engine could revert the downsizing. At the time of writing, Google has made no additional comment about its actions.
Perhaps it is by coincidence, but the news comes just as Google teased gamers with an announcement of its participation in this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC), plus a patent design leak of what could be its controller.
The more surprising news was when the company brought on Jade Raymond as the new VP for Google. For the uninitiated, Raymond is a veteran in the gaming industry. Having first started out as a host in G4, before moving over to Ubisoft where she helped produced several triple-A titles, such as the first two Assassin’s Creed titles and Watch Dogs.
(Source: Android Police, Business Insider)
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