Where does Google see its future in the tablet market? Try the bargain bin.
Responding to a question about tablets during the company's earnings call today, Google chief executive Larry Page said: "We definitely believe that there is going to be a lot of success with the lower ends of the market, as well with lower-price products; that will be very significant, and definitely an area we think is important, and we're quite focused on."
Tablets running on Google's Android operating system have struggled to compete with the iPad, which dominates the market.
"There is a number of Android tablets out there, and obviously we have strong competition there," Page said.
One of the most popular budget tablets is the Kindle Fire, as Page suggested on the call.
"There's also obviously been a lot of success on some lower-price tablets that run Android, maybe not the full Google version of Android," Page said, referring to Amazon's tablet.
The Kindle Fire is based on Android, but Amazon has reconstructed the software so significantly that it doesn't help the search giant much. Amazon doesn't bundle Google's services, like its search engine, e-mail and social network, with the tablet.
Google has been rumored to be working on a so-called Nexus tablet that will introduce a new version of the Android operating system and sell for a low price. The Verge reported last week, citing unnamed sources, that the tablet's release date had been pushed back to July in order to reduce production costs.
As part of Google's harder push into tablets, Page's ambitions include making Android phones and tablets play better together, probably relying more heavily on cloud synchronisation. Google Play, the media hub that the company released last month, will help with that unification, Page said.
"You won't have to manage all these devices," Page said. "You want to think about all these screens around you working seamlessly."
That goal will be especially important when Google puts a screen directly in front of your eyeball.
The writer is a Bloomberg columnist. Views expressed are his own
