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Google's Nexus line so far has been to set a standard for their partners to follow, in terms of price, features, and more importantly, to show the partners how
by cdf 14y ago
Google's Nexus line so far has been to set a standard for their partners to follow, in terms of price, features, and more importantly, to show the partners how they mess up Android with their bad customizations.
I believe Nexus 7 is intentionally designed to be too small to leave room for Android tablet partners to innovate. In all likelihood, it will be yet another successful failure by Google - by provoking partners and rivals to sufficiently respond to the Nexus 7, in terms of price and freedom (as opposed to the Kindle) so much that it makes Nexus 7 irrelevant.
- jsz0 14y agoIt's going to be really tough to compete on price without slashing specs/quality. That's the part that confuses me here. At $250 or $299 it would have served the same purpose with the third party alternatives hitting closer to the $199 price point. If we look at the Android SmartPhone market only Samsung is really having a good time with it right now and that's in a market with carrier subsidies distorting the market and increasing margins. I can't understand why any OEMs would want to stay in this business now. They'd be better off building high margin accessories for Google's 0 margin devices instead of trying to compete against them.
- Zaim3 14y agoThe Android tablet ecosystem was stuck in a chicken/egg problem where nobody would develop for it until there was a market, and they'd be no market until there are tablet apps. A successful Nexus tablet increases the value of the entire ecosystem. Also keep in mind that there -is- a margin for ASUS. Google's reference devices have always been a split where the OEM gets the hardware profit and Google controls the entire experience. The Nexus 7 follows the exact same model all of their previous efforts have.