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Google’s tablet pushed to July in effort to trim price

updated 05:55 am EDT, Fri April 6, 2012

 

Google delays co-branded tablet to lower price


Google’s first entry into the tablet market with a co-branded device is said to have been pushed back to June. According to The Verge, if Google had decided to push ahead with an initial design it would have cost as much as $249, but would have been ready for a May release. Instead, ‘sources close to the project’ said that Google has chosen to make some adjustments to the specifications in order to bring it closer in price to its primary target, the Amazon Kindle Fire, which retails for $199.

Google’s tablet is being made in a partnership between it and ASUS and will be a 7-inch device powered by an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor and be available in Wi-Fi only. At this stage, it is expected to run Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) although the next major revision of Android, Jelly Bean, is expected not long after the device goes on sale. The Google tablet is being developed along similar lines to the way Google has worked on Nexus branded smartphones with other partners.

Google had also reportedly considered lowering the price of its tablet by offering direct subsidies as Amazon has done with its Kindle Fire, however the latest developments suggest that although it may still implement this strategy, it is also exploring component options that could still keep the device price and performance competitive. The Google tablet could also be sold directly by Google through a new online store, along with other third-party tablets including those sold by Samsung, and presumably Motorola among others.



By Electronista Staff

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computers, Google, ASUS, Android, tablet

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Previous Comments

  1. chas_m

    Moderator

    Joined: Aug 2001

    +4
    04/06, 07:34am | report spam | reply

    Win Win

    Android fans get a 7" tablet that features a "pure" ICS experience. Google gets a blunt object it can beat Amazon's Kindle Fire to death with before it fractures the entire platform.


  1. macnnoel

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Feb 2005

    +8
    04/06, 08:47am | report spam | reply

    Google competing with its children?

    popcorn time!


  1. DaJoNel

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2010

    +3
    04/06, 10:41am | report spam | reply

    Like son, like father.

    Even Google can't release on a schedule.


  1. iphonerulez

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2008

    +2
    04/06, 12:05pm | report spam | reply

    Google will be backstabbing its

    own partners. I like that strategy. I like it a lot. Google is initiating Android's race to the bottom. Google is not Amazon and I'm not even certain that Amazon's financial model is all that good. Catering hardware to the poorest or cheapest segment of society and then hoping to get those same people to buy media content doesn't seem like a very good plan. I know that Google makes plenty of money from search, but building ultra-cheap hardware and selling it at a near loss doesn't make much sense. Undercutting its partners makes even less sense.


  1. testudo

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Aug 2001

    -3
    04/06, 12:39pm | report spam | reply

    Re: Like son, like father.

    Even Google can't release on a schedule.

    And how many times was the iPhone or iPad initial release delayed? Even the iPhone 4S was 'delayed' in that it didn't go out at the usual June/July timeframe.

    And these are just 'rumors' of a product launch 'expected' in May and now being pushed.


  1. testudo

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Aug 2001

    -3
    04/06, 12:45pm | report spam | reply

    Re: Google will be backstabbing its

    Catering hardware to the poorest or cheapest segment of society and then hoping to get those same people to buy media content doesn't seem like a very good plan.

    Amazing how selling low-priced means people buying it must be poor or 'cheap'. Maybe they just don't see the value in spending $500 on a tablet. And if everyone was a Sony or Apple, then all we'd have is high-end electronics equipment, wouldn't we.

    BTW, you do realize the iPhone didn't really take off in sales until Apple was able to get the carriers to offer it with subsidized pricing, right? I mean, everyone wants an iPhone, but even Apple realized to get it into the mainstream, they needed to cheapen the thing up!

    I know that Google makes plenty of money from search, but building ultra-cheap hardware and selling it at a near loss doesn't make much sense.

    Thousands of companies do this successfully every year.

    Undercutting its partners makes even less sense.

    Apple does this all the time. You all say Android is a joke now. Well, what should Google do, just sit back and wait for the 'partners' to get their acts together? Oh, I know, maybe they could pay them to do things, so you can mock Google that no one will do Android without cash.

    Maybe Google has decided to push an agenda and path forward, they need to do it, rather than wait for the 'partners' to do this.


  1. SockRolid

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Jan 2010

    +3
    04/06, 01:29pm | report spam | reply

    Nexus Schmexus

    Re: "The Google tablet is being developed along similar lines to the way Google has worked on Nexus branded smartphones with other partners."

    And how well did that work out? Kind of like this:

    Google: "Hey teens! Here's a Nexus phone! It showcases Android the way we really want all you guys to implement it on your phones. Hey Samsung! Hey LG! Hey HTC! Is this mike on? Hello-oooo!!!!!????"

    Samsung: "Meh."


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