Google, Samsung Rumored to Be Co-branding New 10-Inch Tablet

Google is working closely with Samsung to build and market a 10.1-inch, high-end Android Nexus tablet that will be co-branded and sold to consumers, according to published reports.

“The 10.1-inch tablet will boast a pixel density that is higher than Apple’s third-generation iPad,” Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, told CNET in an Oct. 8 report. The rumored machines will have a 2560×1600 display with about 299 pixels per inch (PPI), Shim told CNET, which is higher than the 264 PPI on the 9.7-inch 2048×1536 Retina iPad.

The machines will be “a high-end device,” according to Shim, that will sell for more than Google’s existing $199 Nexus 7 and its upcoming low-end, $99 machine.

Shim also said that the rumored new tablet will definitely be a product that is branded by both Google and Samsung.

That won’t be the first such partnership arrangement for Google, which this summer launched its new Asus-built Nexus 7 tablet. which is building the devices. Samsung already builds the Galaxy Nexus smartphone using Goggle’s Android operating system.

Shim told CNET that the information on which he bases his prediction of a new co-branded tablet includes “supply chain indications,” meaning that the parts are being sourced and arranged in preparation for manufacturing of the devices. Shim also told CNET that Google is planning to offer an ultra-cheap $99 tablet in December.

Shim has been right about such market indications in the past, according to an Oct. 9 story on Nasdaq.com.

“These predictions might sound far-fetched (particularly the claim about a $99 tablet), but Shim is no stranger to making outrageous predictions,” according to the Nasdaq story. “In July he announced with an unprecedented level of confidence that Amazon would build at least three new Kindle Fire tablets,” all of which came true.

Google is certainly no stranger to trying new things in the marketplace.

In August, Google broke its protocol and for the first time used it’s normally very plain search home page to promote its then-newly offered Nexus 7 tablets. Under the Google Search and I’m Feeling Lucky buttons the company posted the tag line: “The playground is open: The new $199 tablet from Google.” An animation of the Nexus 7 was also featured.

Samsung is apparently continuing to bring out new products that are helping it compete more widely in the marketplace.

On Oct. 6, Samsung surprised analysts by posting third-quarter guidance indicating a higher quarterly profit for the three-month period ending in September, with operating profits up 91 percent to 8.10 trillion won ($7.3 billion). An aggregate of 32 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg predicted the company’s operating profit would be 7.58 trillion won.

Analysts said the strong quarterly showing was likely helped by robust sales of the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone, widely seen as the strongest competitor to Apple’s iPhone 5. By September, Samsung had sold 20 million Galaxy S III handsets just 100 days after its launch. The smartphone set the record just 100 days after its debut in May 2012, faster than any previous iteration of the Galaxy brand.

That progress came despite losing a $1.05 billion patent infringement verdict to Apple in August.