Google Learns A Trick Or Two From Apple With The Nexus 7 and Nexus Q

At yesterday?s I/O Conference keynote Google unveiled two products that it believes will help expose the Android operating system a new audience. But while it says ?Google? on these products, both have a decidedly Apple feel to them.

First, take the Nexus 7 tablet. This new Android tablet features a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1280 x 800 HD display and comes with either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage for $199 and $ 249 respectively. It will be the first tablet to run Google?s Android 4.1 ?Jelly Bean? operating system.

Now you might be thinking that this sounds like your standard Android tablet. Well, it is, but Google has added a little Apple twist. Normally, Android tablets are kitted out with a micro SD card slot that allows the user to easily and cheaply add extra storage to the device. This way, expanding storage even by as much as 32GB can cost less than $20. This means you?re free to buy the cheaper tablet and add as much storage as you want to it.

But not with the Nexus 7. This tablet doesn?t have a micro SD card slot so you?re stuck with whatever storage you had when you bought it.

I believe I know why Google has chosen to do this too. Given the overall spec of the Nexus 7 I?m convinced that at $199 for the 8GB model, Google is selling this tablet close to, or perhaps even at, cost. However, adding an extra 8GB of storage or the tablet doesn?t cost anywhere near the $50 premium that Google is charging. In fact, that extra 8GB of storage costs less than $10.

Google wants you to buy the more expansive version because that?s when it makes money on the sale.

Sound familiar? It should do, because this is exactly how Apple works with the iPad. Apple offers the iPad in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, with $100 price jump between each. However, it costs Apple less than $20 to bump the storage from 16GB to 32GB and about $35 to bump it from 32GB to 64GB.

So Google has adopted Apple?s strategy or charging a premium for higher storage capacities, and forces people?s hands by not offering a cheap storage expansion option via micro SD card.

As far as the Nexus Q streaming media system is concerned, Google has gone for premium all the way. While on paper the Nexus Q is similar to the Apple TV, Google has decided that it is worth a whopping $299, as opposed to the $99 that Apple charges for its media streaming device.

Charging a premium price for a product to make it seem like a luxury item as been a mainstay of Apple?s marketing strategy for years.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/adriankingsleyhughes/2012/06/28/google-learns-a-trick-or-two-from-apple-with-the-nexus-7-and-nexus-q/?feed=rss_home

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