Chromecast

The $35 dongle that sold over 100 million, retired for a box

Replaced
19902026

Chromecast was Google's streaming stick, launched on 24 July 2013 for $35: plug it into an HDMI port and "cast" video from a phone or a Chrome tab to the television. It became one of the best-selling media devices ever, over 100 million units across five generations, and grew a remote and a Google TV interface in 2020. On 6 August 2024 Google discontinued the line in favour of the Google TV Streamer, and existing devices were left running.

Timeline [edit]

  1. 2013
  2. 24 July 2013 Launch
    Chromecast launches

    $35, sold out immediately; the free Netflix offer is pulled within a day.

  3. 2014
  4. 3 February 2014 Feature
    The Cast SDK opens to all developers

    Casting spreads to thousands of apps.

  5. 2015
  6. 29 September 2015 Version
    Second generation and Chromecast Audio

    A round puck and a version for speakers.

  7. 2016
  8. 6 November 2016 Version
    Chromecast Ultra

    4K and HDR for $69.

  9. 2018
  10. 24 July 2018 Peak
    55 million sold

    Google's five-year count. The total later passes 100 million.

  11. 2020
  12. 30 September 2020 Version
    Chromecast with Google TV

    A remote and a full interface; the phone-only idea is retired.

  13. 2024
  14. 6 August 2024 Shutdown
    Production ends

    The Google TV Streamer replaces it. Existing devices keep working.

The site through time

Browse google.com as it was, via the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine:

2013 2015 2017 2019 2021 2023 2024 Full archive →

Ownership [edit]

Google 2013–2024 Founded Designed and sold by Google throughout; the Cast protocol lives on

Why it shut down [edit]

Official line: On 6 August 2024 Google announced it was ending production of Chromecast after eleven years and more than 100 million devices sold, replacing it with the $99 Google TV Streamer, a set-top box with a remote, a faster processor and smart-home controls. Existing Chromecasts kept working, and the ones with Google TV keep receiving updates, but nothing new carries the name.

Our analysis: Chromecast won by being cheap and invisible: a $35 stick that turned any television into a screen for your phone. Over a decade the phone-as-remote idea gave way to remotes and interfaces again, streaming apps stopped caring about casting, and Google's own line drifted toward a full Google TV device. When that device no longer needed to hide behind the set, the Chromecast name went with the form factor.

History [edit]

Cast

Google announced Chromecast on 24 July 2013 alongside the second Nexus 7, and it upstaged the tablet. For $35 you got a small dongle that plugged into a television's HDMI port and did nothing on its own; the phone or a Chrome tab was the interface, and pressing a "cast" button in YouTube, Netflix or Google Play sent the stream to the big screen. It sold out immediately, Google pulled a free Netflix offer within a day because demand was too high, and it spent the next two years as the top-selling streaming device in the United States.

The idea was that the television should not have an interface at all. Casting worked from any device with the app, the dongle drew power from a USB port, and Google opened the Cast protocol to developers in early 2014 so that thousands of apps could support it. Chromecast Audio, a version that plugged into speakers, followed in 2015 and lasted until 2019.

Growing a remote

A second generation arrived in September 2015, Chromecast Ultra with 4K in 2016, and a third generation in 2018. Google said in 2018 that it had sold 55 million Chromecasts; by the end the figure passed 100 million. In September 2020 the concept changed: Chromecast with Google TV came with a physical remote and a full on-screen interface built on Android TV, because a device you had to control from your phone turned out to be less appealing than one you could just pick up. An HD version followed in 2022. Stadia, Google's cloud gaming service, was bundled with Chromecast Ultra and died in 2023.

Replaced by a box

On 6 August 2024 Google announced the Google TV Streamer, a $99 set-top box that sits under the television with a remote, a faster chip, more storage and a smart-home panel, and said in the same breath that it was ending production of Chromecast. Retailers sold the remaining stock. Existing devices continued to work; Chromecast with Google TV models still receive updates, while the original 2013 model lost software support in 2023. Casting itself survives inside almost every television and speaker Google touches, but the little stick that started it is finished.

The domain today

google.com is very much alive; the Chromecast store pages redirect to the Google TV Streamer, and Google's support pages keep the setup instructions for the old devices.

Similar projects

Zune Microsoft's answer to the iPod, five years late 2006–2015 iPod 1,000 songs in your pocket 2001–2022 HP TouchPad Killed 49 days after launch 2011–2011 Google Glass The face computer the public rejected 2013–2023 Microsoft Kin Dead in 48 days 2010–2011 Pebble The smartwatch Kickstarter built, and Fitbit buried 2013–2018

Sources [edit]

  1. Google's Chromecast: a brilliant play for the living room, especially with $35 price tag Forbes 24 July 2013 [archived]
  2. Here's to five years of Chromecast Google 24 July 2018 [archived]
  3. Chromecast with Google TV review The Verge 30 September 2020 [archived]
  4. Meet Google TV Streamer Google 6 August 2024 [archived]
  5. Chromecast is dead, meet Google TV Streamer TechCrunch 6 August 2024 [archived]

Last verified: 15 August 2026. Spotted an error? Suggest an edit (corrections with sources are reviewed and applied).