Dive Brief:

• Alphabet's Google said it plans to fold its Chrome operating system for personal computers into its Android mobile operating system people familiar with the consolidation told The Wall Street Journal.

• The company plans to unveil a new, single operating system in 2017.

• Analysts say it's a sign of the growing dominance of mobile computing.

Dive Insight:

Android already powers more than one billion phones and other devices made by dozens of companies. Adding the OS to laptops could expand Android's user base.

"Mobile as a computing paradigm is eventually going to blend with what we think of as desktop today," Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said on a call with analysts. 

Chrome and Android are both based on Linux open-source software. But they differ in significant ways and combining them won't be easy, say analysts.

Combining the two systems might also help Google win more workplace customers for its productivity apps, because it would enable them to run more seamlessly across different devices, which is important as employees do more work on smartphones and tablets.