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UPDATE: 4.9.2021 @ 2:20PM – It turns out this leak and the confirmation weren’t completely true. They weren’t exactly wrong as the Pixel 5a has been cancelled for nearly all markets, but they weren’t totally accurate in the fact that the phone is still slated for release in the US and Japan. Thanks to 9to5 Google for the official word from Google, shown below:
Pixel 5a 5G is not cancelled. It will be available later this year in the U.S. and Japan and announced in line with when last year’s a-series phone was introduced.
A Google spokesperson
The Pixel 5a – presumably the upgrade to last year’s Pixel 4a – looks to be officially off the books moving forward. Code named ‘Barbet’ and likely slated for a reveal at Google I/O 2021, the phone that would have been Google’s latest mid-range handset won’t make an arrival at all, it seems. Thanks to some insider info from Jon Prosser (the same guy who we’re still waiting on for the Pixel Watch leaks) and a further confirmation from Android Central, we can now confirm the Pixel 5a is being canned thanks to chip shortages.
The Pixel 5a was an oddball
Honestly, I’ve never fully understood where the Pixel 5a was supposed to fit in Google’s current phone lineup. With a massive delay in the Pixel 4a and 4a 5G last year, Google still has fresh phones in its mid-range lineup that include the newer Pixel 5 as well. With three current phones that have mid-range specs inside, adding yet another to the mix would be strange to say the least. Now knowing that the Pixel 6 will come this fall bearing Google’s custom silicon inside (GS101 ‘Whitechapel’), I think the Pixel 5a would have just been a bit confusing all around. Had the Pixel 4a shown up on time last year, maybe things would be different. As it stands, I’m sad to not get a new Pixel phone at this year’s Google I/O, but not really surprised by this move at all.
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