Google is reportedly preparing to the enter the tablet market with its indigenously designed Nexus, as CEO Larry Page confirms he remains “quite focused” on reaching the lower end of the tablet space.
If you think about it, the above-mentioned strategy actually makes quite a lot of sense, especially with Apple’s iPad completely dominating the high-end tablet market.
Indeed, the only place Android-powered tablets have been able to successfully compete thus far is in the relatively low end of the spectrum with cheap devices like the uber-reasonable $200 Kindle Fire.
“I think there’s a number of Android tablets out there and obviously, we have strong competition there as well,” Page explained.
“Obviously, there’s been a lot of success on some lower-priced tablets that run Android, maybe not the full Google version of Android. But we definitely believe that there’s going to be a lot of success at the lower end of the market as well with lower-priced products that will be very significant. And it’s definitely an area we think is important and we’re quite focused on.”
To be sure, no tablet running Android has been able to compete effectively with Apple in the $499+ range of the market.
This contrasts with the smaller screen seven-inch segment, where there have been some reasonably successful devices such as the aforementioned Kindle Fire, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and Nook Tablet.
Personally, I believe there is sufficient room in the lower-end segment for a tablet carrying the same price tage as Amazon’s $200 Kindle Fire, or perhaps slightly more, since Google’s tablet will obviously offer access to the full and complete Android operating system, along with an unchained Android Market.
