Google pays some attention to the Android tablet section

Miner's LinkedIn page seems to confirm this. His current title is listed as CEO of Android tablets. It says he has held that position since March 2021.

Google said Miner's specific role is to lead Android software development for large screens on the Platforms and Ecosystems team.

With a pivotal figure in Android history now working on tablets, job postings have been released by Google. It's clear that the company could do something interesting with Android other than phones and foldable devices.

Miner was working on Android when it was founded by a company called Android, which was later acquired by Google. And Miner did a lot of things back then (including helping Google determine which startups to invest in). But now it seems he's back on Android, focusing on improving it for tablets.

And Miner's role isn't just to show the search giant once again that it's focusing on devices with larger screens. The upcoming Android 12L update, which is currently in beta, is focused on improving the tablet and foldable experience.

The job posting for a senior engineering manager for the Android tablet app experience also indicates that Google believes the future of computing is moving toward more powerful and capable tablets.
One of the founders of Android is now leading the Google team

This is a change for the company, which said in 2019 that its hardware team was no longer working on tablets, focusing entirely on laptops.

The head of the Google Gear team said that the Android and Chrome OS teams are committed to working fully on the long term with partners on tablets, in the wake of the Pixel Slate.

As a result, it's been hard to get excited about the future of Google-powered tablets. But with jobs and appointments that Google is working on a foldable Pixel phone, the company seems to be planning a return to the tablet market in some way.

Google said it had no comment on whether it had reconsidered work on its tablets. But Miner himself made some comments on Twitter. Miner retweeted a ComputerWorld report with the comment that there is an indication of hope at the end.

And while the iPad is at the center of the tablet conversation, Apple doesn't completely dominate the market.

According to market research firm IDC. Apple ranked first in tablet sales in the third quarter of 2021, with a 34 percent market share.

But that leaves a lot of room for competitors like Samsung (the runner-up with a market share of about 18% in Q3 2021), Amazon, etc.

And while it's very likely that Google plans to focus on its relationship with tablet manufacturers, taking the next step with the Pixel tablet is beneficial, especially for those with fond memories of the Nexus 7.