Forget the quad-core processor and rock-bottom $199 price tag, forget the brand new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system, and forget that it is Google’s first own-brand tablet: the Nexus 7 is “just another Android-based tablet.” Google unveiled its Nexus 7 tablet on Wednesday and for the most part, interest was piqued. There are two sides to every story, however, and not everyone is convinced Google’s new tablet will have any impact on the industry.
The Nexus 7 is “just another Android-based tablet, iPad can relax,” Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday evening.
The analyst continued, “Google announced Nexus 7, a new 7-inch tablet that will be powered by NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 quad-Core CPU that will be based on the new Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean). The product ships in mid-July and the price is $199. By comparison, Apple’s 9.7 inch iPad starts at a price of $499 and the iPad 2 starts at a price of just $399. At the same time, we believe an ‘iPad Mini‘ could be released this September at a price point of $250-$300, providing a more cost competitive product for Apple and opening up a new market segment.”
While any tablet that hits the market inevitably competes with the iPad on some level, we think Google is hardly trying to steal sales from Apple with the Nexus 7. Instead, Google is in a land grab that it hopes will bring new tablet buyers over to Android while simultaneously forcing the hand of other Android tablet vendors that will now have to build low-cost tablets in order to stay competitive.
