Google’s Nexus 7 slate and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD have not started the trend of cheap 7 inch tablets, but they’ve certainly pushed it forward into a new age. The 7 inch $199 has become a mainstream standard for slates, according to Taiwanese supply chain makers.
The total sales of Nexus 7 are speculated to have reached 6 million and may reach 8 million before the second gen Nexus 7 slate launched in June 2013, say the sources. The Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire are responsible for this trend instead of the 10 inch ones. For the new 2013 tablets to reach $199, the 7 inch models must feature the basic required features such as Internet access and watching video without hassle. Google, Amazon, Samsung and ASUS are competing in the area of 7 inch mainstream devices with $199 price tags.
White box and other vendors will need to drop the pricing to $149, according to sources. Chinese graphics card vendor Galaxy Microsystems has worked with Nvidia in order to launch a 7 inch tablet in china with a price tag of $160, which is only a part of the upcoming wave of launches.
