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Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

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21–30 of 101 posts

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#21
post #19

I just picked up a Nexus 7 today :| May have been a bad time to buy. Any thoughts on whether I should sell it? It's still completely packaged, haven't opened it yet.

Not because a cheaper one is coming, that is always the case, but because pretty soon you will find out that there is not much utility to it... IMO

I'm curious as to what you mean by lack of utility? Could you explain please

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#22
post #2

It will be interesting to see what kind of tradeoffs are required to go that low on the price - 2GB RAM, weaker GPU?

You can get a decent amount of hardware for that price, as long as they aren't going to want to make a profit. Apples vs oranges I know, but look at the (made in UK) Raspberry Pi for $35.

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#23
Asus have aparantly already denied this, not that it means much. [1]

It seems pretty unlikely to me, most of the $99 tablets available on AliExpress are significantly underpowered, especially around the areas of battery and screen quality. Google haven't released a sub-standard Nexus device yet, I'm not sure why they'd do it now, when according to all the reports I've seen the Nexus tablet is doing pretty well.

1 - http://www.reghardware.com/2012/09/27/asus_rumored_to_reject...

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#24

I don't think Apple will be unhappy to see this at all . The most recent figures I've seen have the iPad at around 70% market share. There's no chance that will survive after this kind of device appears, but I would guess Apple would be very happy to own, say, the top 40% of the market while the Android OEMs bleed each other dry at tiny margins. Witness Apple's killer execution in the laptop market - and there they'v…

pardon me, I don't understand your reasoning. Why would apple be less happy with 70% of the market than with 40%?

Do you mean that you expect the total size of the market to double, and then expect apple to own 40% of it (so they have a total number of customers which is slightly more than what they had initially) ?

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#25
post #20
post #2

It will be interesting to see what kind of tradeoffs are required to go that low on the price - 2GB RAM, weaker GPU?

my wild guess is the $199 will get 4g, while the $99 will be wifi only like the current nexus7. and obviously less storage.

BYO memory card storage perhaps.

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#26

I hope all Android OEMs are fully aware that Google has tricked them all into a race to the bottom. That's pretty much been Google's strategy against all its competitors to date.

There was essentially no Google Android tablet market before the Nexus 7, only the Amazon & Nook forks. Manufacturers will be happier having a market with no margin, than no market at all.

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#27
post #2

It will be interesting to see what kind of tradeoffs are required to go that low on the price - 2GB RAM, weaker GPU?

My guess is that Google will subsidize each one, to grown the Android market/install base. Many video game consoles are/were sold at a loss.

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#28

I know this is purely anecdotal, but everyone I've seen recently who has bought a tablet, bought a laptop within 6 months or switched back to their old laptop and got rid of it. I'm still not convinced by the tablet hype. The star trek wow factor wears off pretty quick for most people. A $99 tablet may change that (temporarily as it's almost impulse buy pricing), but I'm not sure something of that price will have any…

...or switched back to their old one...

Switched back to their old what? Tablet? So these are tablet owners who bought another tablet, didn't like the new one, and went back to their old one?

Edit: Oh, so everyone who has tried a tablet went to a laptop, either an old laptop or a new one. Thanks for clarifying :)

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#29
If this is true, I would wager it has the same specs as the current Nexus 7. The Tegra 3 that is currently used is printed on an out-dated 40nm process:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tegra#Tegra_3

Printing the same chip on say a 32nm or 28nm process (Like the iPad 2,4) would dramatically reduce the cost.

This would also allow them to use a smaller battery and achieve the same battery life.

The major challenge is the LCD panel. It's plausible they could continue to use the same IPS screen, but using a nice TN screen is another place they could cut costs. They could also just wager that these are going to sell like crazy and work out a deal at volume like Apple does.

Re: Google set to blow open the tablet market later this year with $99 Nexus tablet

#30

I know this is purely anecdotal, but everyone I've seen recently who has bought a tablet, bought a laptop within 6 months or switched back to their old laptop and got rid of it. I'm still not convinced by the tablet hype. The star trek wow factor wears off pretty quick for most people. A $99 tablet may change that (temporarily as it's almost impulse buy pricing), but I'm not sure something of that price will have any…

...or switched back to their old one... Switched back to their old what? Tablet? So these are tablet owners who bought another tablet, didn't like the new one, and went back to their old one? Edit: Oh, so everyone who has tried a tablet went to a laptop, either an old laptop or a new one. Thanks for clarifying :)

Clarified - thanks :)
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