Google Nexus Tablet to Feed on Android Ice Cream Sandwich Tablets?

Tweet

Last week we told you that Eric Schmidt revealed that Google will release its own tablet, presumably a Nexus-branded device, at some point in the first half of next year. Such plans from the company may not sit well with some of the companies that plan to release Ice Cream Sandwich-running tablets in 2012, a new report reveals.

DigTimes says that Android tablet makers in Asia are worried that a Google Nexus tablet would compete against their own creations, although the name of the sources the report is based are not revealed:

A major concern of the local PC industry is that the Google Nexus is likely to run on Android 4.1, while those Ice Cream Sandwich models to be rolled out in the first half of 2012 are to be powered by Android 4.0 – a development which is likely to cause deferred effects in the purchase of Android tablet PCs by consumers, the sources argued.

Asustek Computer has launched Android 4.0 tablet PCs, with Acer and Lenovo to release comparable models in early 2012, the sources indicated. Those Android 4.0 models can be upgraded to Android 4.1 when the new OS is available.

Android tablets just received a major blow from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with special emphasis on the first one, as the two companies released two popular mid-ranged tablets, the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet, although the first is the real Android tablet-killer here. Further competition from a Google Nexus tablet would certainly affect them in the future even more, as it’s probably more than likely that the iPad will not lose significant market share in the near future.

While Google has worked with HTC and Samsung (twice) when creating its three Nexus smartphones, we have no idea who will create the Nexus tablet. Considering that Google could finalize the Motorola deal in 2012, we could see a Motorola Nexus Ice Cream Sandwich tablet get official at some point in the next six months, but that’s just speculation at this point. And let’s not forget that Motorola was the first company to launch a Honeycomb-running tablet in early 2011, so we wouldn’t be surprised to see Google launch a Xoom-like Nexus tablet in 2012.

Anyone interested in a Nexus tablet that would offer a pure Android experience? Or are you buying an iPad 3 next year?