second-generation Nexus 7 tablet will apparently be the last Nexus device at that size, if a new Digitimes report is to be believed, with the company said again to launch an 8-inch Nexus 8 tablet in the near future. Apparently, the Nexus 7 (2013) has not performed as well as expected, having sold only three million units last year. With a bigger tablet, the company is said to be interested in avoiding price competition with 7-inch tablets and having to face 5- to 6-inch smartphones.
The Nexus 8 tablet is tipped to launch at the end of April, sooner than customers would have anticipated, and Asus is said to build the device for Google. The company has partnered with the Search giant for the first two Nexus 7 versions as well, which launched in June 2012 and July 2013.
However, this year other companies have also been rumored to create Nexus devices, including Samsung for a Nexus 10 successor, Lenovo/Motorola for either a Nexus 6 smartphone or a tablet, and HTC for a high-end Nexus tablet of unspecified size. Google has been previously rumored to work on 8-inch devices, with LG being the company expected to build it. In the end, LG ended up launching a Google Play Edition version of its own 8.3-inch G Pad 8.3 tablet.
Meanwhile, a rumor also says that 2014 may be the last year of Nexus-branded devices, which could be replaced by a new family of handsets and tablets that would follow in the footsteps of the almost Nexus-like Google Play Edition devices.
