Google likely to miss with next-gen Nexus 7, may set new Android standard with 'Moto X'

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Although it boasts an impressive feature set, Google's second-generation Nexus 7 tablet could be a bust, says one analyst who believes the Internet search giant's real potential lies in the forthcoming "Moto X" handset.

Nexus 7
Source: Google


Google on Wednesday unveiled the next-generation Nexus 7, a tablet that brings impressive hardware to the table for a relatively cheap entrance fee, but KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates shipments will be markedly below market consensus.

In a pair of research notes obtained by AppleInsider, Kuo says a survey of the tablet industry suggests shipments of the new Nexus 7 will be between 3.5 and 4 million units in 2013. Market watchers, on the other hand, forecast shipments some 30 to 40 percent higher at 5 to 7 million units over the same period.

The analyst cites an increasingly competitive marketplace as being a major factor in the Nexus 7's success. As an example, Apple during its quarterly earnings call on Tuesday announced a 14 percent year-over-year slip in shipments for its best-selling iPad lineup, the first slowdown ever for the June quarter.

Kuo also attributes possibly poor Nexus 7 shipments to a lack of innovation on the part of Google and partner manufacturer Asus.

"While the second-generation Nexus 7 showcases Retina display and wireless charging, among other features, the user experience is little changed as compared to other Android tablets," Kuo writes. "It is also more expensive due to higher component costs. These factors are leading to below-consensus shipments."

Asus itself could negatively impact Nexus 7 sales, as the Taiwanese firm's already low-cost tablets will likely be further marked down to clear inventory during the third quarter. Kuo estimates price cuts averaging 20 to 40 percent, exacerbating the situation for Google's as-yet-unreleased tablet.

If Kuo is bearish on the Nexus 7, he is anything but with Motorola's upcoming Moto X flagship handset. The analyst adjusted his shipment forecast for the smartphone to 5.5 million units for fiscal 2013, up from a previous model of 3.5 million units.

Moto X
Reported leaked Moto X press shots. | Source: The Verge


Google's Motorola is widely expected to announce the Moto X at a special media event on August 1, with the smartphone said to carry a 4.5-inch 326PPI screen, 5-megapixel camera, and "always-listening" voice recognition mode.

Launching on all carriers, and to backed by a reported $500 million marketing campaign, the U.S.-made device is viewed as a legitimate competitor to Samsung's Galaxy S4 and Apple's iPhone 5. Kuo believes the Moto X will be the "single most important" product for for Motorola in 2013, forecasting the handset to account for 40 percent of the company's smartphone shipments despite being handicapped by a second-half launch.

The analyst sees Moto X as being more a harbinger of things to come than a hot-selling handset, however, noting the opportunity represents chance for Google to set an example for the Android pack. The dominant player in that market is Samsung, but the Korean tech titan could be usurped if Google continues to churn out halo devices like the Moto X.

"With hardware, software, and services converging as a trend, Google is expected to shift more resources into hardware," Kuo says. "By integrating hardware and software to speed up innovation and by launching new flagship models, Google could come to be regarded as a beacon of superior product design in the chaotic Android camp."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 99
    robmrobm Posts: 1,068member
    Apple have their earnings announcement after market close yesterday - all this Google press and product announcements in the last 15 hours are a deliberate attempt to prop up their bubble and affect investor sentiment.

    Where's my Page punchbag ? ahh there it is - thwack, roundhouse kick .....
  • Reply 2 of 99
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member


    So it's more expensive? Then why AI reported it's $100 less???

  • Reply 3 of 99

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by matrix07 View Post


    So it's more expensive? Then why AI reported it's $100 less???



    I think the mean $100 less than the iPad mini.

  • Reply 4 of 99
    disturbiadisturbia Posts: 563member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RobM View Post



    Apple have their earnings announcement after market close yesterday - all this Google press and product announcements in the last 15 hours are a deliberate attempt to prop up their bubble and affect investor sentiment.



    Where's my Page punchbag ? ahh there it is - thwack, roundhouse kick .....


    +1

  • Reply 5 of 99
    matrix07matrix07 Posts: 1,993member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Shameer Mulji View Post


    I think the mean $100 less than the iPad mini.



    I see. Then I can see a lot of people will opt for the old N7 instead, especially if ASUS clear the inventory.


     


    Like the analyst (whom I rarely agreed) said, the user experience is little changed. The high DPI is nice but it remains to be seen how it affect the battery life and how  better apps are. 


    Look like Marco has come to a sense at least.


    Why I'm not tempted to buy a Nexus 7 to play around with.


     


    Yes, he bought the old one.


  • Reply 6 of 99
    Hang on is this a Pro Apple site? that would explain the negative comments...
  • Reply 7 of 99
    I remember when Apple released the iPad 3 with Retina Display, and rumors were that Apple would raise the price, but then Apple kept the price the same and ate the difference.
  • Reply 8 of 99
    will young wrote: »
    Hang on is this a Pro Apple site? that would explain the negative comments...

    Which comments here are negative? All I see are people discussing price and the lack of change in the Nexus 7 user experience.
  • Reply 9 of 99

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post





    Which comments here are negative? All I see are people discussing price and the lack of change in the Nexus 7 user experience.


     


    Just for the new guy's benefit, I'll make a negative comment:


     


     


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post





    Google's Motorola is widely expected to announce the Moto X at a special media event on August 1, with the smartphone said to carry a 4.5-inch 326PPI screen, 5-megapixel camera, and "always-listening" voice recognition mode.

     


     


     


    Trust Google to develop an 'always-listening' mode...

  • Reply 10 of 99
    allenbfallenbf Posts: 993member
    Agree with Ming. HD screen is nice and they will sell a lot, but I'm more interested to see Moto X. I don't think it will really be an iPhone competitor, but I think it has the potential to gut Samsung.

    I like what I see so far and for ME, after seeing iOS 7, stock Android is looking nice. Looks like I'm about to become a multi-platform user.

    Moto X, iPad mini (hopefully retina), Macs and Apple TV, supplemented with Chromecast here and there. Beautiful world.
  • Reply 11 of 99
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    I don't care about the specs or the price, but that is one ugly ass tablet, and what is up with those huuuugeee bezels? And even if the specs are better than the last Google tablet, it's still running the horrible OS known as Android.
  • Reply 12 of 99
    abazigalabazigal Posts: 114member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post



    I don't care about the specs or the price, but that is one ugly ass tablet, and what is up with those huuuugeee bezels? And even if the specs are better than the last Google tablet, it's still running the horrible OS known as Android.


    Huge bezels hide a lot, like the need to pack a much larger battery to power that higher res display. 

  • Reply 13 of 99
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    The analyst cites an increasingly competitive marketplace as being a major factor in the Nexus 7's success.

    Even if there wasn't any competition, this thing won't be the success Google hopes for. It's all in the software, and theirs' sucks. Big time. Just got back from a short holiday, and my friend was using an Android phone. Quite a challenge to get it on hotel WiFi, failing to connect to a French telco two days straight, requiring a reboot because WhatsApp got stuck. On and on, she had a poor experience, while my 5 just worked.
    Kuo also attributes possibly poor Nexus 7 shipments to a lack of innovation on the part of Google and partner manufacturer Asus.

    Sure, blame the hardware partner.
    "While the second-generation Nexus 7 showcases Retina display and wireless charging, among other features, the user experience is little changed as compared to other Android tablets," Kuo writes.

    Excellent point! This isn't about spec-sheet-whoring, it's about the experience. The iPad mini as a hardware formfactor beats this thingy out of the bush bush, even before you turn it on and get to experience iOS.
    "It is also more expensive due to higher component costs. These factors are leading to below-consensus shipments."

    Bull. People are willing to pay for the 'allegedly' more expensive iPads (or whatever Apple makes) because of the quality. Price has nothing to do with it.
    Kuo estimates price cuts averaging 20 to 40 percent, exacerbating the situation for Google's as-yet-unreleased tablet.

    That is indeed the way MS and others try to sell off their stock.
    "With hardware, software, and services converging as a trend, Google is expected to shift more resources into hardware," Kuo says. "By integrating hardware and software to speed up innovation and by launching new flagship models, Google could come to be regarded as a beacon of superior product design in the chaotic Android camp."

    How very true. In the light of the "chaotic Android camp" that is. Not the tablet market. Apple has that covered.


    /rant

    Google may continue to try to improve on things, which is a good thing. But sometimes in business, or life for that matter, if you keep on trying, and keep on failing perhaps you should think about taking a different turn. A different direction. Google has been based on - basically - PageRank: The most sites pointing to a webpage is the most useful, informative, popular or whatever according to them. This very thing, and their wish for 10B a year in ad revenue, shows what Google is all about. And that is not creating a tablet with great user experience.

    Turning around, looking at Apple, they've always wanted to create the best experience, both hardware and software, bar none. They get it, it's in their DNA, and it's the reason they've become so big.

    Google has become big as well, but for all the wrong reasons. I somehow wish companies, all of them, would create products and services that wouldn't need advertising: it would sell on its own. And Google would disappear into irrelevance. People might want Google to stay alive, because competition is good. But looking at this tablet and Apple's iPad Mini, I don't think they're in the same, how do Americans say this, ballpark(?)
  • Reply 14 of 99
    Sorry not your comments, the article

    Google likely to miss with next-gen Nexus 7
    Nexus 7 tablet could be a bust
    Ming-Chi Kuo estimates shipments will be markedly below market consensus
    attributes possibly poor Nexus 7 shipments to a lack of innovation


  • Reply 15 of 99
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    I'd love to see the Moto X take share from Samsung but it probably won't as it will be heavily marketed in the USA. And all the tech sites will pitch it as an iPhone killer.
  • Reply 16 of 99
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    philboogie wrote: »

    Google has become big as well, but for all the wrong reasons. I somehow wish companies, all of them, would create products and services that wouldn't need advertising: it would sell on its own. And Google would disappear into irrelevance.

    Yet here we are with Apple beginning a more serious push into working with advertisers to deliver better targeted ads using more granular location and search data gathered from their users, putting more effort and emphasis on monetizing their user-base.
  • Reply 17 of 99
    relicrelic Posts: 4,735member
    I think the mean $100 less than the iPad mini.

    Yes he did, just to repeat The 16GB Wi-Fi-only version will be available for $229, with a 32GB Wi-Fi-only model coming for $269. A 32GB 4G LTE (unlocked) version will retail for $349, it's more or less in line with last years pricing.
    robm wrote: »
    Apple have their earnings announcement after market close yesterday - all this Google press and product announcements in the last 15 hours are a deliberate attempt to prop up their bubble and affect investor sentiment.

    Where's my Page punchbag ? ahh there it is - thwack, roundhouse kick .....

    ...and what is you point, it's their prerogative? Google released the Nexus 7 in the same week last year during Google I/O as well as Android 4.1 and Glass, this is the Nexus 7's one year anniversary so it's only fitting to release it's successor now. Did you expect for Google to wait till next week out of respect for Apple, yeah that's not going to happen, no company does that.
  • Reply 18 of 99
    herbapouherbapou Posts: 2,228member
    Just for the new guy's benefit, I'll make a negative comment:

    Trust Google to develop an 'always-listening' mode...

    LOL. Last week i sent an email about aquariums on gmail. I am still seing aquarium ads all over the place when i surf the web. The top banner is about aquariums right here on AI.
  • Reply 19 of 99
    customtbcustomtb Posts: 346member
    Trust Google to develop an 'always-listening' mode...

    Seriously! Google always listening... No thanks.
  • Reply 20 of 99
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    customtb wrote: »
    Seriously! Google always listening... No thanks.

    Referring to something like the MotoX It's actually the smartphone locally listening for instructions from the user and locally processing voice commands, not "Google listening".
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