Google’s Nexus tablet may push Android partners out of the picture

http://www.bgr.com/2012/01/05/googles-nexus-tablet-may-push-android-partners-out-of-the-picture/

by zacharye • 15 years ago

26 19 15 years ago

untog3• 15 years ago

If they do it, then the Android partners have no-one but themselves to blame.

Had they stepped up and made a device that people wanted then there wouldn't be any need, but just like with the Nexus range of phones, it seems that Google needs to drag their partners kicking and screaming into making devices that customers actually want. Mind boggling.

stanleydrew2• 15 years ago

Totally agree. Given the state of the Android tablet market I would be disappointed if Google weren't planning something like this.

bitwize• 15 years ago

People want the iPad.

It's a little difficult for Samsung to make iPads.

gcb• 15 years ago

That mentality, in Samsung, is exactly what makes Samsung suck

untog3• 15 years ago

Couldn't you say the same about the iPhone? People wanted the iPhone. Plenty of people now want, and are very happy with, Android phones.

The same hasn't been the case for tablets because the Android manufacturers haven't made anything worth wanting. The iPad can be competed with, even if it's only on price.

saturdaysaint• 15 years ago

edit It's worth mentioning that the linked article is itself speculation/extrapolation on a Digitimes rumor. Questionable. /edit

Google has some difficult questions ahead if Amazon starts making phones. It's questionable if anyone else can justify selling devices like these below cost - and even if anyone else could, Amazon has the most prominent storefront and a more complete content ecosystem.

fluidcruft• 15 years ago

Personally, after my experience with Android, I am completely uninterested in investing in an Android tablet. A Windows 8 tablet on the other hand with Microsoft actually in control of the software (which is what I understand they are doing) -- even if it only has a web brower, office and dropbox, I'm so there. Plus from what I understand Microsoft is making their App store free-software friendly, so maybe even emacs (smearmacs!) and latex.

extension• 15 years ago

If there's currently no market, then nobody has anything to lose by letting Google try to create one. The iPad is already pushing them out of the picture, but if the iPad didn't exist then there would be no picture out of which to be pushed.

Goronmon• 15 years ago

>Who would purchase a $500 Samsung tablet when $199 will get you a slate “of the highest quality” that will also be the first such device to receive new software updates as they become available?

Someone who didn't want a basic 7" tablet? That's like wondering who would ever purchase a $1k laptop when $250 netbooks exist.

stanleydrew2• 15 years ago

I think the idea is that the new tablet would be higher quality. So the question seems valid: who would pay more for an inferior product?

danmaz74• 15 years ago

There is nothing I miss from my Transformer, quality wise... (or otherwise, actually :)

cube13• 15 years ago

If this is true, it will be more of a shot at Amazon than Apple. The Kindle Fire is an Amazon table that runs Android on the backed, not an Android tablet with Amazon features. Also, I'm honestly not sure if Google can actually sell an iPad(or even close to iPad) quality tablet for $200.

Amazon was able to create a very good tablet with the Kindle Fire, but they have the content ecosystem(as well as the public used to giving them money directly) to support selling the device for a loss. Google is attempting to get that ecosystem, but they aren't there yet(and the public isn't generally used to paying Google for anything). I can see $300 for the new tablet(Amazon reportedly loses $50 per Kindle Fire), but not $200.

ajross• 15 years ago

I think this is exactly it. The fact that the only manufacturer able to turn Android into a success on the tablet is a competitor doing an unlicensed/unbranded clone must be deeply embarrassing.

The Fire really is a nice device at a fantastic price.

jdost• 15 years ago

From what I have heard, from contacts in the mobile hardware industry, Motorola is not currently working on a Google tablet, at least not one out in the next 3 months. I don't think that Google is going to push the other hardware partners out of the scene just yet.

dannyr• 15 years ago

"It has already been widely discussed that an own-brand tablet from Google would likely cannibalize its Android partners’ tablet sales, though there isn’t much to cannibalize at this point."

This statement has no basis and contrary to what happened with Android phones when Google launched the Nexus Line.

padobson• 15 years ago

If no one makes a popular Android tablet, then why do I have to wait 4-7 weeks for my ASUS Transformer Prime?

http://www.amazon.com/Transformer-TF201-C1-CG-10-1-Inch-Tabl...

The hardware innovation that Android enables in the tablet market is going to prove to be one of the best things to happen to portable computing.

The Tegra 3 would not have happened without Android around.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/tegra-superchip.html

Google’s Nexus tablet may push Android partners out of the picture

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