Launch Price of Google Nexus Tablet Rumored To Be As Low As $149

Rumors continue to swirl about the highly-anticipated Google Nexus tablet, but it's the most recent one that we really find intriguing: it may debut for as low as $149.

Google has chosen hardware manufacturer ASUS to produce the tablet, and while earlier reports said that the device will retail anywhere between $249 and $199, an insider source is claiming the target price will land somewhere between $149 and $199. The insider, a senior employee at a supply chain company based in the United States, was quoted by tech site Android and Me as saying, “It's a done deal,” confirming that the tablet is indeed in the works.

One possible contributing factor to the lower price point of the Nexus tablet is that the previously-rumored Tegra 3 processor it was going to be packing is apparently no longer part of the equation. Since ASUS has a strong relationship with chip maker Qualcomm, some are speculating that we may see a Snapdragon processor running the Nexus tablet instead of the Tegra 3.

Other than the fact that the Tegra 3 has been nixed and that it will have a 7-inch display, there is no word yet on what the specs of the Nexus tablet will be. In fact, previous reports that it will be the $250 ASUS MeMO announced at CES 2012 are apparently false, and ASUS has scrapped that device in order to focus on the Nexus tablet.

Given that this will be a Google device, however, it may be one of the first devices to run the next version of the company's Android OS, codenamed "Jelly Bean". We expect to hear more about the next version of Android at Google IO on June 27-29, so that may give us a better idea of what to expect from the Nexus tablet when it's released.

Source: Android and Me