Google Nexus 7 To Take Advantage Of Market Before iPad Mini Arrives

The 16GB Nexus 7 currently costs $199 (Photo : REUTERS/Stephen Lam)

Google has shaken up the tablet market with their recent entry, the Google Nexus 7 tablet. Affordable and solid, it's the first Android tablet that looks like it has taken attention away from Apple and its iPad. Reports around the web show that Google intends to ramp up production and try and take advantage of the time it has before Apple releases an iPad Mini and Amazon launches the Kindle Fire 2.

Like Us on Facebook

DigiTimes, which broke the report, says that two Taiwanese companies, TPK Holding and Wintek, have been contracted by Google for 4 million OGS (one glass solution) touch panels during the third quarter of 2012. 

The report also states that the companies' shipments of touch panels to Google for the Nexus 7 in June and July totaled 2.4 million.

The Nexus 7 currently stands at the top of the budget tablet category. The only other real player is the Amazon Kindle Fire, which also starts at $200. Amazon is expected to unveil the Kindle Fire 2 this fall, and Apple is expected to show off a cheaper, smaller iPad Mini. Both of these would compete directly with the Nexus 7 and this has Google apparently worried.

Google is expected to lower shipments to only around 100,000-400,000 per month in the fourth quarter because of "competition from Amazon's new versions of Kindle Fire and a new version of iPad," according to DigiTimes.T

he only problem here may be that these companies may be the ones responsible for all the display and screen issues that Nexus 7 users have been complaining about.

The Nexus 7 runs the latest Android version, Jelly Bean, and comes with a 7-inch display. To make sure the Nexus 7 was cheap, manufacturer ASUS and Google chose to not include an HDMI port, a rear-facing camera, or cellular capabilities. These features, along with the display, might be something that Amazon or Apple will take advantage of and include in their upcoming budget tablets in order to lure customers away from Google.