IF YOU ADD them all up, Google actually makes a lot of gadgets. It sells Nexus phones, Chromebook Pixels, Pixel C tablets, Nest smart-home products, cardboard VR viewers, Chromecast and Chromecast Audio, pretty Wi-Fi routers, even weird custom phone cases. But you’d never think of Google as a hardware company, because there’s no rhyme or reason to any of it. Some things are made for developers, others to show off how great a form factor or operating system could be. Some become really expensive doorstops. I’m sure I’m forgetting stuff, too—Google’s made so many small-time moves in the gadget market that it’s hard to track them all.
This one feels different, though. If the rumors are true (which they almost always are), Google’s about to drop the biggest bundle of hardware in the company’s history. At an event on October 4 in San Francisco, we expect to see two new phones, which will come with Pixel branding and potentially the biggest mainstream push for a Google phone ever. Google will also announce a release date for Home, its Amazon Echo-style chatbox, and for the Daydream virtual reality platform. Sundar and Friends will also reportedly have a new router to show off, and a new Chromecast. Maybe some Chromebooks, too, and maybe even the long-awaited operating system that combines the best of Chrome OS with the best of Android. And who knows? Google could release a new self-driving car just for fun! Either way, it’s going to be a busy day.
None of this means Google’s trying to be the world’s greatest gadget manufacturer. “I don’t think they are about boxes,” says Tuong Nguyen, principal analyst at research firm Gartner. “They’re not out there to sell boxes of anything to anyone.” Hardware’s a crazy business to get in anyway, Nguyen says, with tiny margins and massive entrenched players. Plus, it’s not what Google’s really about.
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