Yesterday, some rumors got circulating that Google and ASUS were already preparing to follow-up on this summer’s launch of the Nexus 7 with some new tablet designs, including one that could arrive for just about one hundred dollars. Those rumors made no attempts at speculating upon just what hardware would be in a device capable of being sold at so low a price point, but it was still an intriguing idea. Will it actually come to pass, though? It’s looking a little less likely today, upon ASUS denying those claims.
From the sound of things, ASUS is saying that neither the rumored $99 tablet, nor a hardware-refreshed $199 version, are in development. Digitimes, which originated the rumors in the first place, only describes the company’s statement as refuting the rumors, which certainly sounds a lot more definite than if the manufacture had simply chosen not to comment.
Will we ever see a tablet break the $100 barrier while simultaneously not being a complete piece of rubbish? It sounds extremely difficult without heavily subsidizing the hardware somehow, but we don’t want to say “never” just yet.
