Google to launch new Nexus 7 in July for as little as $149, insiders claim

By Trevor Mogg April 3, 2013

Check out our full review of the Google Nexus 7 (2013) review.

Google is prepping the launch of its next-generation Nexus 7 tablet for July, a Reuters report said Wednesday.

Citing “sources with knowledge of the new product”, the report said the second iteration of the Web giant’s popular tablet could hit the market for as little as $149, $50 cheaper than the current 16GB model, which would be discontinued.

A price tag like that might prove too hard to resist for many of those on the hunt for a low-end tablet, and could leave Amazon scrabbling around looking for ways to shave a few more bucks off its 7-inch Kindle Fire HD tablet, which currently retails for $199. Amazon said just recently it’s already “at the lowest price points possible” with its tablets, so Google could potentially deal a serious blow to the e-commerce giant if it manages to bring an ultra-cheap, improved Nexus 7 to the market.

Alternatively, there is also the possibility that Google would price the second-generation device at $199 and cut the price of the current model to $149.

While the tablet will apparently still be manufactured by Taiwan-based Asus, there could be a notable alteration taking place under the hood, with Nvidia’s Tegra 3 chip thought to be making way for a Snapdragon chip from rival Qualcomm “for power reasons”, the source said.

Besides the chip change, the next version of the Nexus 7 will reportedly come with an improved display as well as a thinner bezel design. There’s no mention about whether the updated tablet will come with, for example, a rear-facing camera.

The Mountain View company is reportedly targeting sales of between six and eight million units for the second half of this year, up from 4.6 million units sold in the same period in 2012, Reuters said.

It’s possible the refreshed tablet will be unveiled during Google’s I/O developer event in San Francisco in May, a couple of months before it goes on sale.

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