The first Chromecast was announced in July of 2013 with the goal of letting people stream content from phones to televisions. With the launch of the Google TV Streamer, Chromecasts are no longer being manufactured.
The Chromecast with Google TV 4K and HD will remain on sale until inventory runs out, but Google is not replenishing stock after that.
Existing units will keep seeing updates, with Google at I/O 2024 in May promising a “Home runtime” that allows the Android-powered dongle to act as a hub for Matter devices. That update is coming later this year.
After the original in 2013, Google released a 2nd-generation in 2015 along with the Chromecast Audio. The Chromecast Ultra arrived a year later, with the 3rd-generation launching in 2018. Two years after that the Chromecast with Google TV (4K) arrived and that was followed by the HD version in 2022.
Google no longer believes people need or necessarily want cheap streaming devices. When the Chromecast came into existence in 2013, smart TVs had not yet proliferated. Now, every television has basic streaming and casting functionality
Google started changing its strategy in 2020. Not only did Chromecast with Google TV add a remote that people were clamoring for, but a full operating system focused on surfacing and recommending content.
The Google TV Streamer solidifies and finalizes that shift.
That said, Google not having a sub-$100 streaming device is unexpected, with the gap between the upcoming $99 device and the $29 Chromecast with Google TV HD stark. The company is effectively not competing in that market right now. It remains to be seen whether Google will end up reassessing in the future and making a cheaper Streamer, with the dongle form factor inherently well suited for that.
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