Google announced the Googlebook on 21 September 2026. Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo make the first models. Samsung is absent from the list, even though it shipped more smartphones than any other brand in the June quarter, according to research firm Omdia.

The Googlebook is Google's answer to the Apple MacBook. It runs Google's own software, called Googlebook OS, which is built from Android, the system that runs most of the world's non-Apple phones. It has Gemini, Google's AI assistant, built into every part of it. And it is designed to work closely with an Android phone. Google makes the software. The five partner brands make the laptops.

In Australia, the Googlebook reaches shops on 5 October, one day after the US launch, according to Google.

Google launched an Android laptop. The biggest Android brand is missing.

Four terms, in plain English

These four terms are all you need to follow the rest of this article.

The fight is phone plus laptop

Laptops used to compete on the laptop: the screen, the battery, the price. The Googlebook competes on the phone in your pocket.

Apple has sold this idea for years. If you own an iPhone, a Mac picks up where your phone left off. Your passwords, photos and messages follow you across both. That convenience keeps people buying Apple devices, because switching one device means losing the connection to the others.

The Googlebook gives Android phone owners the same thing. Google lists these features:

Continue On. Start something on your phone and finish it on the laptop.

Cast My Apps. Open your phone's apps in a window on the laptop screen.

Files. Reach your phone's files and photos from the laptop.

Sync. Your settings, passwords, Wi-Fi details and messages copy across automatically, protected by encryption.

That turns the laptop market into a contest between two ecosystems, Google's and Apple's. My read: Windows has its own market, and that will stay the same for now. The fight worth watching is Google against Apple, across your phone, tablet and laptop, with Google betting that its AI gives it the edge.

Australia is Apple's home ground. Apple devices account for 65.19% of mobile web page views here. Samsung is a distant second, and Google's own Pixel phones are a small third.

Here is the problem for Samsung. In that chart, Samsung accounts for most of the Android phone use in Australia. The Googlebook is built for exactly those people, and Samsung is absent from the list of brands that make it.

So why is Samsung missing?

Google and Samsung have both stayed silent on the reason, SamMobile reports. There are three likely reasons. The first is reported. The second and third are my reading of the situation.

Reason one: Samsung is building its own. Earlier this year, SamMobile reported that Samsung is developing Galaxy Book laptops that run Android with Samsung's own design on top. Samsung has never confirmed this. Samsung also prefers to launch new Galaxy products at its own events, so it may be saving its Android laptops for a launch of its own.

Reason two: Samsung wants its own ecosystem. Samsung already puts its own software design, called One UI, across its phones, tablets, watches and TVs, according to Gadget Hacks. The laptop is the missing piece. A Googlebook puts Google's name and Google's AI on the laptop. A Samsung Android laptop would keep Samsung's name on every device the customer owns.

Reason three: Samsung's laptops run Windows today. Samsung's current laptop, the Galaxy Book 6, runs Windows. Samsung already has a laptop business. Joining Google's launch would mean competing with that business.

Why this is a threat to Samsung

The Googlebook works with any Android phone running Android 17 or newer, including Samsung Galaxy phones, according to SamMobile. That is the threat. A Samsung phone owner can now buy a Dell or a Lenovo laptop that connects to their phone as closely as a Samsung laptop would.

Samsung's pitch has always been the Galaxy family: buy the phone, the tablet, the watch and the earbuds, and they work together. The Googlebook hands the laptop part of that pitch to five other brands. It also puts Google's AI, Gemini, in front of Samsung's customers every day.

Samsung has the most to lose because it has the most Android customers. If Samsung launches its own Android laptops, it competes directly with Google's partners. If it stays on Windows, its phone customers have a joined-up laptop option from somebody else.

Google is also pricing the Googlebook against Apple. It starts at US$899 in the US. In Australia, Man of Many reports the cheapest model costs AUD$2,299.

What to do before your next laptop purchase

Check which phones your team carries. The best laptop for your business now depends on the phones your staff already use. If most of them carry iPhones, a Mac gives you the joined-up experience. If most carry Android phones, the Googlebook now offers the same. Check that those phones can update to Android 17, because the Googlebook's phone features need it.

If your team uses Samsung phones, give Samsung time. Samsung is reported to be building its own Android laptops. If that is true, a Samsung laptop may connect to Galaxy phones and add Samsung's own features. Samsung has announced no launch date, so set yourself a deadline, such as your next planned laptop upgrade, and compare both options then.

Compare the whole package, beyond the sticker price. Google includes 12 months of Google AI Pro with 5TB of online storage, three months of YouTube Premium, and an Adobe Photoshop offer. Check the terms of each before you count them. Google also promises software updates for up to 10 years. If your business would pay for that storage or that AI anyway, count it as part of the price.

Choose your next laptop by the phones your team already carries.