6 ms·

Rumor: Nexus tablet is a “done deal”

37 points by taylorbuley 15y ago

Steko 15y ago
Summary: "a tablet of the highest quality" "quad-core Tegra 3 processor is out" "target price has been lowered to $149" It seems to me that you can have one or the other. You can make a solid $149 tablet with many compromises. Or you can make a tablet that has top (ipad) quality hardware. You can't really do both without shoveling money into the toilet. Indeed Asus already makes a tablet with top quality hardware. It sells for $499.
- w1ntermute 15y ago
  Yeah, it's funny to hear people trashing Android tablets when I'm sitting with a Transformer Prime right now. It works great, and does everything I could ask for from a tablet.
  - cageface 15y ago
    I suspect that you do need a reasonable app ecosystem to get a tablet off the ground, but that once you've got the bases covered the difference between 100k apps and 400k apps becomes largely academic. If you've got a solid browser, clients for email, Facebook, and Twitter, and a reasonable ebook, movie, music and photo apps you've covered the needs of 90% of your potential buyers. Oh and Angry Birds, of course. Which is why I expect Apple to continue to own the top end of the tablet market but continue to lose overall marketshare to the greater diversity of increasingly acceptable Android alternatives. I particularly think that the 7" form factor is going to be more than a niche and the pain Android developers have suffered up front in coding to multiple screen sizes and form factors is going to pay off.
- skystorm 15y ago
  The "tablet of the highest quality" has been around for a while, when the quoted price was still $250. So it's possible that this status has recently been superseded by the new target price (and thus downgraded processor).
davidedicillo 15y ago
The only way for Google to ship something like this at this price point is to eat a big chunk of the production costs and sell it at a loss.
- untog 15y ago
  Which I can almost- almost!- see them doing. The iPad utterly dominates the tablet landspace, and Android tablets hasn't had anywhere near the success Android phones have.
  - redthrowaway 15y ago
    >The iPad utterly dominates the tablet landspace The reason for this is, I think, kind of obvious: everyone needs a phone. Most people buying new phones opt for smartphones, and the cheapest smartphones are droids. They serve the market. Tablets, however, are a luxury item. They're not a necessity like a phone, nor are they a productivity item in the same way a laptop is. The people who buy them are buying them as luxury/status items, and that means Apple. Just as those who buy phones for status buy iphones, so too do those who buy tablets buy ipads. The only people who buy luxury phones and tablets, but opt for android, tend to be the technorati which is a much smaller market than Apple appeals to.
    - Steko 15y ago
      "Tablets, however, are a luxury item... The people who buy them are buying them as luxury/status items, and that means Apple." iPads replace laptops for many people which explodes your hypothesis. I've never purchased a laptop in my life due to expense but I did buy an ipad. New category =/= luxury. Apple has won this category because (among other things) they were the first successful entrant, their software is more refined, their ecosystem is better and their distribution is leagues better.
      - cageface 15y ago
        But this just means that a laptop would also have been a luxury for you. Apparently you don't need a mobile computer or you would have bought one before the tablet became an option. Like a lot of people I'm working on the go all the time and as much as I like tablets for certain things I need a real laptop.
forrestthewoods 15y ago
Is there any way to produce a tablet of comparable spec to iPad for less money? My understanding was that Apple owns enough of the require infrastructure and produces at large enough scale that they Apple are effectively impossible to undercut. Unless the Android tablet is sold for a loss of course.
- InclinedPlane 15y ago
  Except... You may not be able to undercut apple on cost, but Apple products carry ridiculously high profit margins. You don't have to sell at a loss to beat Apple's retail prices, you just need to sell at a lower profit margin.
- yumraj 15y ago
  You don't have to "make" it for less than Apple to be competitive, as long as you're willing to live with a smaller margin. So, if iPad costs Apple $350 to make to sell for $499 at a margin of $149, someone else can make it for $400 and sell it for $499 at a lower margin. Of course you have to take retailer's margin and other things into account but my argument stands.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
pacomerh 15y ago
Personally I'd like to see a more developer oriented tablet approach from google, something like what happened with G+ on the social network scene. Take a little more risk for the hardcore users, because if you're targeting the casual user you already lost to the Ipad.
- ktsmith 15y ago
  There's a huge untapped market of casual users that are too price sensitive to be buying the iPad. That's very likely the market a $100-250 tablet would be aimed at. This is the same market that the kindle fire is already selling to. In the case of the fire the hardware is mediocre and I would expect the same from whatever this device is supposed to be.
  - cageface 15y ago
    There's also a market that considers the 10" form factor uncomfortably large. Personally I think Apple is going to come to regret refusing to cater to users that want a phone bigger than the iPhone or a tablet smaller than the iPad.
    - ktsmith 15y ago
      I would agree that there's a huge market for a smaller than 10" tablets and the iPad specifically. I'm not a big fan of the Kindle Fire (I own one) or the Blackberry playbook. The 7" size is great for reading books but the weight is too heavy for prolonged use in many sitting positions considering the size. I would expect the smaller devices to be much lighter than they are.
chimeracoder 15y ago
What does the Nexus brand mean anymore, though? I'm not even trying to be sarcastic. I can't figure out why I should be excited about this. Okay, Google's cooperating with some unnamed hardware manufacturer and some unnamed wireless carrier to produce this device, but what does that mean for me? Nexus doesn't mean that it's produced with a given hardware manufacturer, or even a given set of hardware (beyond the implication that it's generally the best available at the time). For phones, it doesn't mean that it's tied to any given carrier, though it also doesn't necessarily mean that it can be used between carriers either (thanks to the GSM/CDMA incompatibility). It doesn't mean that the device won't have carrier bloatware on it. It doesn't mean that the device will be the first to receive updates (for proof: take a look at the angry Nexus S users who still don't have ICS). It doesn't even mean (anymore) that the device will receive updates directly from Google! Since Google's now apparently establishing a two-versions-per-year schedule for Android, those once-valuable promises mean absolutely nothing. I have a Galaxy Nexus, and I love it - I'm glad I upgraded. But I honestly don't know what Google thinks the Nexus brand means - maybe they have some idea, but they're not doing a great job of communicating it to even a tech-savvy Android user. I'm glad that Google took the UI to the next level on ICS, but unless they solve this problem very soon, Android's in trouble.
- aprescott 15y ago
  I genuinely thought that all Nexus devices were stock Android without carrier modifications. Is this not the case?
  - ktsmith 15y ago
    The galaxy nexus released to Verizon had no google wallet and added one or two pieces of Verizon specific software including their backup assistant. I don't believe either piece of vendor bloatware could be removed just disabled. edit: The other pieces of software is My Verizon Mobile.
    - yareally 15y ago
      I have a galaxy nexus (verizon version) and yes, they can be disabled in the same manner as any other app on the device (hold pressing and dragging it to the top of the screen under app info and clicking disable afterwards). If that does not go far enough, you can flash the stock firmware from Google http://code.google.com/android/nexus/images.html http://code.google.com/android/nexus/images.html
rbarooah 15y ago
This seems like it might be a decent Android competitor to the iPod touch, which is actually a pretty smart move.
rmah 15y ago
Hmm, so assuming it's about on par with the Kindle Fire, we're looking at about $200 to manufacture (http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/Amazon-Kindle-Fire-Costs-$201-70-to-Manufacture.aspx http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/Amazon-Kindle-Fi...). Throw in an additional $50 for marketing/distribution/shipping/design/overhead, and Google is looking at losing $100 per unit if they price this thing at $150. Amazing the lengths some people will go to to make a few dollars a month from ads.
- wmf 15y ago
  I think the Nexus is about letting developers start working with next year's version of Android, not about making money.
xxqs 15y ago
can't wait till we get a native Ubuntu tablet. Canonical says they are in the talks with hw vendors.

37 points by taylorbuley 15y ago

Steko 15y ago

Summary: "a tablet of the highest quality" "quad-core Tegra 3 processor is out" "target price has been lowered to $149" It seems to me that you can have one or the other. You can make a solid $149 tablet with many compromises. Or you can make a tablet that has top (ipad) quality hardware. You can't really do both without shoveling money into the toilet. Indeed Asus already makes a tablet with top quality hardware. It sells for $499.

w1ntermute 15y ago
Yeah, it's funny to hear people trashing Android tablets when I'm sitting with a Transformer Prime right now. It works great, and does everything I could ask for from a tablet.
- cageface 15y ago
  I suspect that you do need a reasonable app ecosystem to get a tablet off the ground, but that once you've got the bases covered the difference between 100k apps and 400k apps becomes largely academic. If you've got a solid browser, clients for email, Facebook, and Twitter, and a reasonable ebook, movie, music and photo apps you've covered the needs of 90% of your potential buyers. Oh and Angry Birds, of course. Which is why I expect Apple to continue to own the top end of the tablet market but continue to lose overall marketshare to the greater diversity of increasingly acceptable Android alternatives. I particularly think that the 7" form factor is going to be more than a niche and the pain Android developers have suffered up front in coding to multiple screen sizes and form factors is going to pay off.
skystorm 15y ago
The "tablet of the highest quality" has been around for a while, when the quoted price was still $250. So it's possible that this status has recently been superseded by the new target price (and thus downgraded processor).

davidedicillo 15y ago

The only way for Google to ship something like this at this price point is to eat a big chunk of the production costs and sell it at a loss.

untog 15y ago
Which I can almost- almost!- see them doing. The iPad utterly dominates the tablet landspace, and Android tablets hasn't had anywhere near the success Android phones have.
- redthrowaway 15y ago
  >The iPad utterly dominates the tablet landspace The reason for this is, I think, kind of obvious: everyone needs a phone. Most people buying new phones opt for smartphones, and the cheapest smartphones are droids. They serve the market. Tablets, however, are a luxury item. They're not a necessity like a phone, nor are they a productivity item in the same way a laptop is. The people who buy them are buying them as luxury/status items, and that means Apple. Just as those who buy phones for status buy iphones, so too do those who buy tablets buy ipads. The only people who buy luxury phones and tablets, but opt for android, tend to be the technorati which is a much smaller market than Apple appeals to.
  - Steko 15y ago
    "Tablets, however, are a luxury item... The people who buy them are buying them as luxury/status items, and that means Apple." iPads replace laptops for many people which explodes your hypothesis. I've never purchased a laptop in my life due to expense but I did buy an ipad. New category =/= luxury. Apple has won this category because (among other things) they were the first successful entrant, their software is more refined, their ecosystem is better and their distribution is leagues better.
    - cageface 15y ago
      But this just means that a laptop would also have been a luxury for you. Apparently you don't need a mobile computer or you would have bought one before the tablet became an option. Like a lot of people I'm working on the go all the time and as much as I like tablets for certain things I need a real laptop.

forrestthewoods 15y ago

Is there any way to produce a tablet of comparable spec to iPad for less money? My understanding was that Apple owns enough of the require infrastructure and produces at large enough scale that they Apple are effectively impossible to undercut. Unless the Android tablet is sold for a loss of course.

InclinedPlane 15y ago
Except... You may not be able to undercut apple on cost, but Apple products carry ridiculously high profit margins. You don't have to sell at a loss to beat Apple's retail prices, you just need to sell at a lower profit margin.
yumraj 15y ago
You don't have to "make" it for less than Apple to be competitive, as long as you're willing to live with a smaller margin. So, if iPad costs Apple $350 to make to sell for $499 at a margin of $149, someone else can make it for $400 and sell it for $499 at a lower margin. Of course you have to take retailer's margin and other things into account but my argument stands.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

pacomerh 15y ago

Personally I'd like to see a more developer oriented tablet approach from google, something like what happened with G+ on the social network scene. Take a little more risk for the hardcore users, because if you're targeting the casual user you already lost to the Ipad.

ktsmith 15y ago
There's a huge untapped market of casual users that are too price sensitive to be buying the iPad. That's very likely the market a $100-250 tablet would be aimed at. This is the same market that the kindle fire is already selling to. In the case of the fire the hardware is mediocre and I would expect the same from whatever this device is supposed to be.
- cageface 15y ago
  There's also a market that considers the 10" form factor uncomfortably large. Personally I think Apple is going to come to regret refusing to cater to users that want a phone bigger than the iPhone or a tablet smaller than the iPad.
  - ktsmith 15y ago
    I would agree that there's a huge market for a smaller than 10" tablets and the iPad specifically. I'm not a big fan of the Kindle Fire (I own one) or the Blackberry playbook. The 7" size is great for reading books but the weight is too heavy for prolonged use in many sitting positions considering the size. I would expect the smaller devices to be much lighter than they are.

chimeracoder 15y ago

What does the Nexus brand mean anymore, though? I'm not even trying to be sarcastic. I can't figure out why I should be excited about this. Okay, Google's cooperating with some unnamed hardware manufacturer and some unnamed wireless carrier to produce this device, but what does that mean for me? Nexus doesn't mean that it's produced with a given hardware manufacturer, or even a given set of hardware (beyond the implication that it's generally the best available at the time). For phones, it doesn't mean that it's tied to any given carrier, though it also doesn't necessarily mean that it can be used between carriers either (thanks to the GSM/CDMA incompatibility). It doesn't mean that the device won't have carrier bloatware on it. It doesn't mean that the device will be the first to receive updates (for proof: take a look at the angry Nexus S users who still don't have ICS). It doesn't even mean (anymore) that the device will receive updates directly from Google! Since Google's now apparently establishing a two-versions-per-year schedule for Android, those once-valuable promises mean absolutely nothing. I have a Galaxy Nexus, and I love it - I'm glad I upgraded. But I honestly don't know what Google thinks the Nexus brand means - maybe they have some idea, but they're not doing a great job of communicating it to even a tech-savvy Android user. I'm glad that Google took the UI to the next level on ICS, but unless they solve this problem very soon, Android's in trouble.

aprescott 15y ago
I genuinely thought that all Nexus devices were stock Android without carrier modifications. Is this not the case?
- ktsmith 15y ago
  The galaxy nexus released to Verizon had no google wallet and added one or two pieces of Verizon specific software including their backup assistant. I don't believe either piece of vendor bloatware could be removed just disabled. edit: The other pieces of software is My Verizon Mobile.
  - yareally 15y ago
    I have a galaxy nexus (verizon version) and yes, they can be disabled in the same manner as any other app on the device (hold pressing and dragging it to the top of the screen under app info and clicking disable afterwards). If that does not go far enough, you can flash the stock firmware from Google http://code.google.com/android/nexus/images.html http://code.google.com/android/nexus/images.html

rbarooah 15y ago

This seems like it might be a decent Android competitor to the iPod touch, which is actually a pretty smart move.

rmah 15y ago

Hmm, so assuming it's about on par with the Kindle Fire, we're looking at about $200 to manufacture (http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/Amazon-Kindle-Fire-Costs-$201-70-to-Manufacture.aspx http://www.isuppli.com/Teardowns/News/Pages/Amazon-Kindle-Fi...). Throw in an additional $50 for marketing/distribution/shipping/design/overhead, and Google is looking at losing $100 per unit if they price this thing at $150. Amazing the lengths some people will go to to make a few dollars a month from ads.

wmf 15y ago
I think the Nexus is about letting developers start working with next year's version of Android, not about making money.

xxqs 15y ago

can't wait till we get a native Ubuntu tablet. Canonical says they are in the talks with hw vendors.