
According to financial analyst Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets, Apple’s iPad has little to worry about when it comes to losing its top spot on the tablet market due to Google’s newly-announced Nexus 7. White believes that the Nexus 7 is “just another Android-based tablet.”
Google recently unveiled its $199 Nexus 7 tablet, a result of its partnership with Asus, at its Google I/O developer conference. The device, which features a quad-core CPU by Nvidia and a 1,280x800 pixel display, will go on sale starting in July.
White’s note to investors said that there was “no threat here” to the iPad from the device, in response to the announcement. As a reference, he pointed towards Google’s first Android-based hardware initiative, the Nexus One, which he said was met with “muted enthusiasm.” He went on to say that “the combination of Apple’s expanding digital grid, innovative design, unmatched aesthetics, leading App availability (with 225,000 native iPad apps), intuitive user interface and expanding technology innovations will continue to keep the company on top of the tablet for many years to come.”
Furthermore, it was noted that the Nexus 7 is more likely to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire as both devices have similar specs and share the same price point. It was previously mentioned by Google that they had their sight set on the low-end of the tablet market, which is an area that Amazon took the lead in late last year with the release of the Kindle Fire. Android chief Andy Rubin told All Things D just recently that the company went “from zero to working product in four months” and Asus chairman, Jonney Shih said that his engineers mentioned that the project was “like torture” claiming that the engineers brought up that Google “asks [for] a lot.” According to Shih, the Nexus 7 team was split up around the globe and had a 24-hour development cycle.
It’s likely that Apple won’t have to worry about the Nexus 7 eating away at its profit share as Rubin admitted that Google’s own profit margins for the device are extremely low. “When it gets sold through the (Google) Play store, there’s no margin,” he said. “It just basically gets (sold) through.” Based on previous IDC projections, the iPad is on route to take back market share from Android this year as well and Topeka Capital Markets maintains its price target of $1,111 for shares of Apple with a rating of “Buy.”
Source: AllThingsD, AppleInsider



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