Google Nexus 7 in July 2013

Google Nexus 7 

By now we all know that Google plans to launch its new version of Nexus Tablet in July this year. The new version of the Nexus Tablet will Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor (instead of Nvidia’s Tegra 3.) 

The market for 7-inch tablet started heating up last year when Amazon cut price on its Fire line of products to $159. Google's Nexus might be available later this year for $149.

As Reuters puts it - "Google may choose to sell the new gadget for $199, the same as the first generation rolled out last June, while the old model may be discounted, one of the sources said. Alternatively, the new tablet could be priced more competitively at $149 and the previous model discontinued." What the final price would be might depend on what the competition plays till June. But the $149 price seems a possibility. As Fubon Securities analyst Arthur Liao says that - "This is the 'zero margin strategy.'

Some of the changes that Google is anticipated to the new version are:

• Higher-resolution panel of 1920 x 1080
• Quad-core Snapdragon 600 chipset
• 2 GB of RAM
• Rear camera

With these changes Apple will have to reduce the price of iPad Mini, the cheapest version of which is currently $300. Apple is losing ground on the phone and it might want to peg that on the Tablet market. Being an Apple fan who uses most of the Apple products except the Tablet, I think times would be tougher for Apple in the future. Huawei Media Pad 7 too was a decent Tablet but with the new configuration that Google plans for its Nexus 7 and with the price reduction if that happens, Nexus could have a cake walk.

The heating up of competition is good news for consumers as the price are getting more affordable and the high margins for these companies of the Tablets going down. When we look at countries like China and India, buyers have options of purchasing Tablets anywhere from $75 to $125. That should be a possibility for consumers across the globe and this might be a possibility next year, unless some aggressive manufacturers makes it happen this year.