Even if Apple retains firm control of the tablet market (65% Q1 2012 share according to ABI) vendors still insist on fighting over the remains... following Microsoft's surprise Surface announcement, Bloomberg reports Google will unveil a co-branded (with Asus) tablet at the Google I/O 2012 developer conference.
An anonymous Asus executive confirms the Bloomberg report to Reuters.
Why team up with Asus instead of using Motrola Mobility? Apparently Google wants to "continue to treat all partners fairly." Or use them to test out what Android tablets can do...
However the Google tablet will rival neither iPad nor Surface-- Bloomberg's anonymous sources suggest the Google Nexus tablet will aim at the lower end of the market, with pricing as cheap as that of the Amazon Kindle Fire.
Which means now is as good a time as any to report the latest second Amazon tablet rumours-- both DigiTimes and CNET say we can expect the Kindle Fire 2 to hit the market as soon as July 2012.
If such reports are correct, the Google tablet and Kindle Fire 2 will be fairly similar 7-inch devices with $199 price tags.
With no mention of tech specs, the chief differences appear to be software-based-- a Bloomberg source says the Google tablet carries the latest Android confection (version 4.1 aka "Jellybean"), while an update of Amazon's custom Android build should be inside the Kindle Fire 2.
Will Google and Amazon manage to dent the tablet market? ABI Research suggests tablets will reflect the smartphone market due to domination from an Apple-Samsung duopoly (the Kindle Fire "fizzles" in 2012, ABI says). Meanwhile Gartner predicts Microsoft will take over 12% of the tablet market by 2016-- a number the analyst might soon change, since that prediction came out before the Surface reveal.
Either way, expect the tablet war to remain scorching hot this Summer!
Go Google Said to Unveil Tablet at I/O (Bloomberg)
Go Planned Google Tablet to Rival Amazon (Reuters)
Go Amazon Reportedly may Drop 7-inch Kindle Fire Price to Welcome New Models (DigiTimes)
