Nexus 10 tablet rumors return, this time with HTC’s name attached

By Andy Boxall February 10, 2014

Nexus 10 Side — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Google Nexus 10 tablet is now over a year old, and although perfectly competent, is still considered overdue for replacement. Its sequel has been rumored several times already, although we’ve heard little since the end of last year. That changed early this week, when rumormonger DigiTimes published a story concerning a refreshed Nexus 10 slate.

Quoting anonymous industry sources, it states Google has given the new Nexus 10 project to HTC, shunning previous manufacturer Samsung, potential builder LG, and the Nexus 7 team at Asus. HTC’s no stranger to Nexus hardware, having built the original Nexus One smartphone back in 2010, but it hasn’t had much luck with tablets in the past.

Besides news of the collaboration, DigiTimes’ sources don’t provide any information on the tablet’s specification or a possible release date. It’s also unclear if it’s talking about a replacement to the existing Nexus 10, or a third generation model possibly being discussed for 2015 or later. If the report is talking about a second generation Nexus 10, its release probably won’t come very soon.

However, this is assuming the report is accurate. The other manufacturers discussed above have a considerably better tablet track record than HTC, a manufacturer with which Google hasn’t had a strong hardware-based relationship for several years. It’ll be a brave decision to shift away from them for the new Nexus 10.

HTC hasn’t had a clear tablet strategy for several years, suggesting even it can’t decide what it wants to do with tablets. Back in 2012, Microsoft refused to let it build one running Windows RT, causing a strategy “rethink.” Nearly a year later, Microsoft told HTC to have a go at Windows RT, but the resulting effort was apparently canceled due to high production costs and low demand for Microsoft’s software. Subsequent talk of a “nice and disruptive” Android tablet hasn’t resulted in any new hardware either. The tablets it has launched, the Flyer and Jetstream, haven’t been huge successes.

We all know HTC can build a great smartphone, but it has yet to prove itself with tablets, so we’ll take DigiTimes’ report with plenty of salt for the moment.

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