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Google to Launch $99 Nexus Tablet Later This Year? I Think So

I have another crazy rumor from Digitimes today, but unlike their past crazy rumors I think this one might actually be true.

According to their sources Google and Asus are working on an even cheaper Nexus 7 tablet.  It’s one of 2 new Nexus 7 tablets the pair have in the works, and both are supposed to hit the market later this year.

One of the models will be priced at US$199 while the other will be priced US$99, and both models are expected to hit markets by the end of 2012, added the sources.

The sources speculated that Google is preparing for increased competition from Apple when the reported 7.85-inch iPad is released in the fourth quarter of 2012, and wants its device to maintain growing sales.

Yeah, I’m not so sure they have the time frame correct but I do think a cheaper tablet is coming. It’s my guess that the Nexus 7 lite will have the same screen and still run Jelly Bean, but instead of the Tegra 3 CPU found in the Nexus 7 I expect the $99 lite model to run on a dual core CPU.

Th reason I believe in this rumor is because it fits with what I’ve already seen on the market. There are any number of decent $99 tablets out there, and all those devices are being sold by smaller tablet makers at a profit. That means Google and Asus could design a decent tablet with specs that would place the price around $150. Google would then sell the tablet for $99. That is pretty much what Google did with the Nexus 7.

Google’s flagship 7″ tablet is selling for somewhere around the cost of materials, with Google’s profit margin coming from content sold in Google Play. It’s also what Amazon is now doing with their Kindle hardware. And if Google is successful in using this business model on the Nexus 7, it is a near certainty that they will repeat their success with cheaper hardware.

But I still think the time frame is off. I think the Nexus 7 Lite will be unveiled right around CES 2013. It will be the tablet everyone writes about. Unless of course Google decides to unveil it in time for Black Friday, which would be another good choice.

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Comments


cookie September 27, 2012 um 4:11 pm

"It’s my guess that the Nexus 7 lite will have the same screen and still run Jelly Bean, but instead of the Tegra 3 CPU found in the Nexus 7 I expect the $99 lite model to run on a dual core CPU."

I doubt that is enough cutting for $100.

Nate Hoffelder September 27, 2012 um 4:30 pm

Maybe not, but I still think a $99 tablet is coming from Google.

Thomas September 27, 2012 um 10:13 pm

There are already some dual-core Chinese tablets for less than $100. They’re shorter on bells and whistles than the Nexus, and use a much lower resolution screen.


fjtorres September 27, 2012 um 4:46 pm

I wonder if driving a 7incher to $99 is quite as urgent for Google as getting a 9inch-plus generic out there to compete with the forked ecosystems. Plus the baby unicorn and the WinTabs to come.
Also, I wouldn’t assume the $99-er would necessarily be a 7-incher.
Samsung has proven there is a pretty hefty market for 5in phones; a 5inch Tablet/PDA would slot in at $99 quite nicely for the holidays.
One thing I do agree with; Google needs to get a broader range of their own hardware out there and do it quickly.


Sturmund Drang September 27, 2012 um 7:00 pm

Anyone who would pay $299 for a four inch IPod Touch is a poster child for the Samsung Galaxy S III advertisements. How about a Nexus 4 at 100$; and what will Apple do with all that unsold stock?


New $99 Nexus Tablet to Pass on the WonderMedia CPU? | The Digital Reader January 28, 2016 um 10:31 am

[…] relating to this tablet that follow a pattern set down by the Nexus 7 this spring. Info pops up here and there, benchmarks show up online, and at some point we should be seeing photos shot  from the […]


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