According to one reliable leaker, the Pixel Fold isn’t actually cancelled

Yesterday as I was watching Jon Prosser’s video about the upcoming Google Pixel Watch in preparation for our post about it, I couldn’t help but notice one 15 second section where he paused the press renders for the upcoming Pixel Watch and mentioned the Pixel Fold – you know, the device that’s been abandoned by Google? Yeah, that one.

Let’s be clear: Jon is a guy who has enough connections inside Google to accurately leak devices like the Pixel 5a, Pixel 6/6Pro and now it seems he’s nailed it with the Pixel Watch as well. Though he doesn’t always get the credit he deserves, it is clear that Prosser has some solid connections and those connections have pretty legit info.

The ‘cancelled’ Pixel Fold

That brings me to that 15 seconds of sidebar in his latest video. In that portion Jon veers off from talking about the upcoming Pixel Watch to briefly mention the Pixel Fold. Last we’d all heard, the Pixel Fold had been canned, and that may still be the case. But don’t you think Jon’s sources inside Google (who are still in place, obviously) would have made mention of this to him by now? Check out the video below at the 7:49 mark:

As you can clearly see and hear, Jon doesn’t consider the Pixel Fold cancelled, delayed or otherwise. And again, I think he’d know about it by now if that were actually the case. In fact, when he said this, I started looking back at the story that began the entire “Pixel Fold is Dead” timeline and it all comes back to one, single source. Granted, this source could be spot on, but he could be seeing only part of the story, too. That initial Fold-killing report came via a display analyst and is the same guy who leaked Samsung screens and folding glass as parts of the Pixel Fold’s makeup, so he has some clout.

But with numerous leaks and a new version of Android coming in Android 12L that is specifically designed for folding phones, I’ll admit that it seems very strange for Google to simply pull the rug out from under this not-yet-confirmed device so quickly. Maybe chip shortages push things back or make supply limited, but wouldn’t that be OK for a niche device like this? I mean, in all honesty, there simply aren’t that many people out there that will buy one anyway. Folding phones are still a tough sell by a company as good at advertising as Samsung is, so a Pixel Fold isn’t going to exactly blow the doors off.

It all seems a bit strange to me and this little nod from Prosser only makes me that much more hopeful that the Pixel Fold is still in the process of being completed. I was just handling the Galaxy Z Fold 3 last weekend and was admiring how thin and compact Samsung has managed to make it in the 3rd iteration. There’s no doubt Google is/was working with Samsung on the Pixel Fold, so I’d reckon it will come with a similar design, and that makes me want it even more.

While I doubt we’ll hear any news at CES (Google tends to focus on Assistant-related things), you just never know about these things. Maybe we get out to Vegas and Google teases both the new Pixel Watch and Pixel Fold in a bit of a surprise. Or maybe they hold an event in the late winter or early spring where they announce both devices. Since Google’s never released either of these pieces of hardware, we just don’t have any clue on a timeline at this point, so we’re just waiting on the next leak. If the Pixel Fold is still out there, someone will let it slip. And when they do, we’ll let you know.