Google rumored to begin selling Android tablets directly to consumers

The rumors about Google creating their own Android tablet have been surfacing for a very long time. Now it seems the Wall Street Journal wants to stir the rumor pot again by insisting the company is readying an online store to allow them to sell their own Android tablets directly to consumers.

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The Wall Street Journal is citing "people familiar with the matter" in their post about Google getting an Android tablet of their very own ready to sell. The tablets would be co-branded with the manufacturer's name on them as well as Google's and they would be sold via an online store, in the same way Amazon sells the Kindle to customers.

Considering Google isn't exactly in the hardware business they would need manufacturing partners to make this happen. The rumbling is that Asus and Samsung are on board and Motorola would likely follow considering the purchase deal in place between themselves and Google.

There have been rumors for quite some time about a Nexus tablet priced at $199 which would be able to directly compete with Amazon's Kindle Fire. If that came true and the tablet also ran the Jellybean OS, rumored to drop mid 2012, Google could have a compelling product on their hands.

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The Kindle Fire is the only tablet to even attempt to compete with Apple's iPad and if Google could beat the specs of that device with traditional Android software and still come in at the $199 price point, the Fire could have some actual competition.

The interesting thing about this rumor is the inclusion of the idea that Google would sell this device itself. The company tried to sell their Nexus One smartphone unsubsidized, but the results weren't exactly mind blowing. When the Nexus S launched Google partnered with Best Buy to get the phone into more people's hands.

If Google chose to create their own tablet and sell it only via their online store, the visibility for the device would be much lower than if they partnered with an actual brick and mortar location. Even if Best Buy is planning on closing 50 retail location in the coming months, the tablet could still be offered up at their smaller mobile locations, which the company is looking to expand.

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One can definitely argue that the situation with the Nexus One would be very different than a $199 tablet. That phone ran upwards of $500 without a contract, making it a hard sell for a great deal of people. A $199 tablet might just work if sold by Google directly to consumers via an online store.

Would you buy a Google branded tablet? Would you prefer to purchase something like that directly from Google or would you rather buy from a retail outlet? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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