Google Nexus 7 (Photo : Twitter)
Google is reportedly taking full control of the Nexus 2016 project that the tech giant's manufacturing partners are reduced to minor players like Huawei and HTC. The new plan is intended to produce high-end Nexus flagships that can take on Apple's iPhones and iPads, a new report said.
The good news for Android fans is that future builds of Nexus devices will become more like of their Apple rivals - a mix of aesthetic design and premium set of hardware that is optimized for vanilla Android as Google has originally designed its mobile operating system to be. The bottom line for Google - the Nexus project will take a direct page from Apple's iPhone/iPad playbook.
Apple's manufacturing template puts the building responsibility on third-party OEMs and in the case of iPhones and iPads Foxconn takes care of putting together the devices but the Chinese contractor is prevented from printing the company brand name on smartphones and tablets that roll out from its production lines. Google wants to put this system in place in time for the Nexus 2016 releases, Ars Technica said in a report, pointing to subscription-only The Information as source.
In essence, Google plans for the Nexus phones and tablets to unbox this year bearing only the Google-Nexus signature with no trace of the hardware providers. But as an immediate result, big-name device makers are likely to opt out of the project. As Ars Technica pointed out, it seems unimaginable that LG, Samsung and Motorola would produce the next Nexus minus the privilege of promoting their brand names.
So the alternative for the Nexus maker is simply tap the willing OEMs. One would be Huawei, which is already big in China but is raring to gain footsteps in key markets like the United States. Another is HTC, which seems eternally struggling to wiggle its way out from continuing slide. For both Huawei and HTC, building the Nexus 2016 devices will mean gaining significant traction on market penetration, which is true for the China-based device maker.
As for the Taiwanese-operated HTC, a return to the Nexus fold (the company issued the first Nexus phone) will serve as a shot in the arm. It will be a solid source of revenues that in the past years seem to elude the HTC One M-series flagship maker, according to Ars Technica.
Rumors have it that Huawei is the chosen one to make the enhanced and premium Nexus 7 2016 tablet that is touted as iPad and Galaxy Tab killer. HTC, on the other hand, is said ready to build one of the Nexus smartphones to come out this year that likely will be given a sneak peek via Google's I/O Developers Conference with the release date to follow later in the year.
