Rumours surrounding a HTC built Nexus 8 being released this year in place of a third generation Nexus 7 are continuing to mount, with Digitimes reporting that Google has approached the Taiwanese manufacturer to build an 8″ tablet to be released in the coming months.
The report suggests that HTC, rather than Asus will be making the tablet, as Google looks to revamp the design of the tablet. Google was apparently looking to involve HTC in the development of the original Nexus 7 tablet, but HTC was too mired in their own efforts to promote their flagging smartphone business to take on the designing and building of a Nexus tablet.
Asus is also reportedly none too keen to be involved in the building of the next small form-factor Nexus tablet, with Google looking to relegate Asus to a mere manufacturer, with Google themselves handling the design.
The report also suggests that the Nexus 8 could be a very laid back launch, with Google apparently satisfied that the Nexus 7 has succeeded in inserting Android tablets into the consumer marketplace. This rumour has apparently begun speculation that the Nexus 8 could be Google’s last tablet release.
The Nexus 7, both Gen 1 and Gen 2 have been incredibly successful for Google. Although the Mountain View company has always declined to share numbers for their Nexus line, an Asus executive did claim that the numbers were approaching a million units per month when speaking about the launch of the original model. Those sorts of numbers are difficult to ignore, so it’s hard to imagine Google halting a successful line such as the Nexus 7…or Nexus 8 if that’s what they choose to produce this year.
