Google's not hanging around - fresh from announcing the Google Pixel 4A, which is shaping up to be a mid-range hit, it's clearing the decks as far as its Pixel flagships go.

• Google Pixel 4a review: Small but mighty

It's confirmed that it will no longer be selling the Pixel 4 or 4XL, in short, or making any more of the handsets, once its current stock sells out. The phones will doubtless still be avilable through other retailers for a little while, but once those are gone, the phones are off the market.

While Google does typically end the production of Pixels after perhaps 18 months, it's certainly a good way ahead of schedule here. It's still less than a year since the Pixel 4 came out, making this a seriously quick shelf-life.

Moreover, the delays faced by the finally-announced Pixel 4A mean that some versions of it won't hit retailers until October, while the Pixel 5 has been confirmed to exist but far from unveiled.

That means Google's looking pretty lightweight on the hardware front right now, without a top-of-the-line product to sell. It'll hope to change that when it does eventually take the wraps properly off the Pixel 5. 

It also brings the curtain down on the underwhelming response to the Pixel 4, which continued the trend toward excellent cameras from the Pixel team, but didn't stick the landing when it came to battery life or performance.