Google working with Samsung on ‘high-end’ 10.1-inch Nexus tablet, report says

Google is reportedly working with Samsung to develop a co-branded high-end Nexus tablet featuring a 10.1-inch screen, moving into an area of the tablet market dominated by Apple with its 9.7-inch iPad.

While Apple appear to be about to go small with its enormously popular 9.7-inch iPad device, a new report suggests Google is soon to go big with its 7-inch Nexus tablet.

According to a Cnet report, the Mountain View company is busy developing a 10.1-inch tablet with Korean electronics giant Samsung.

The information comes from Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, who said that supply chain activity indicated the new tablet was on its way, though a time frame for its launch wasn’t given.

Shim said the new tablet will have a screen density even higher than that of the third-generation iPad. Apple’s newest iPad has a 2048 x 1536 screen resolution (264 PPI), whereas Google’s offering will reportedly have a 2560 x 1600 display (299 PPI).

Google partnered with Taiwan-based Asus to produced its well-received 7-inch Nexus tablet, however, it appears that Samsung has been chosen to work on the larger device. The Korean company currently produces Google’s Galaxy Nexus smartphone, released late last year.

Buoyed by the success of its Nexus 7 tablet, which launched in the US in July, Google appears to be looking to try its luck in the 10-inch tablet market, currently dominated by Apple with its iPad. And, according to Shim, the co-branded device won’t be a cheap alternative to the Cupertino company’s big seller, with the analyst describing it as a “high-end device.”

Apple, meanwhile, is expected to launch a smaller, 7.85-inch version of the iPad this month, with a price tag of between $300 and $350. The new tablet could well damage sales of Google’s cheaper Nexus 7 tablet, as well as the latest versions of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets. Whether a 10.1-inch co-branded tablet from Google and Samsung can tempt buyers away from Apple’s iPad is another question, and one we may be able to answer once more details of the device come to light.