Why Google's Tablet Store Isn't the Nexus One All Over Again
The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Google is starting a store to sell Android tablets online. This is an attempt to jumpstart the sales of tablets running Google-approved versions of Android …
Context & Ripple Effects
The store follows Andy Rubin's February pledge that Google would 'double down' on Android tablets in 2012, after a year in which cheap Kindle Fire-style devices ran Android without Google's services. The Wall Street Journal first reported the direct-sales plan on March 29, and syndication across GigaOM, parislemon and others within two days signals how closely the market is watching Google's next hardware move.
PC Magazine's argument is against history repeating: after the Nexus One experiment, Google retreated to partner-led hardware, exemplified by its cautious positioning of the Nexus S in late 2010. The counterpoint now is timing — the store launches alongside Google's rebranding of Android Market into Google Play, giving Google a single storefront for media and devices just as it positions its tablet against Apple and Amazon.
First-order effects
- Google-approved Android tablets gain a direct-to-consumer sales channel through Google itself, letting Google control merchandising and pricing rather than depending on carriers and big-box retail.
- Amazon's Fire and Apple's iPad become the explicit benchmarks: a Google-run store is positioned to push tablets that ship with Google's full app and media stack, not stripped-down forks.
Second-order effects
- Hardware partners selling Google-certified tablets must now compete inside Google's own storefront for visibility, while retailers risk being disintermediated on flagship Android devices.
- Amazon faces a rival that controls both the Android app distribution layer — via the Google Play rebrand — and a curated device lineup, sharpening price pressure at the low end of the tablet market.
Third-order effects
- If the store model holds, Google shifts from open Android licensing toward tighter curation of which tablets carry Google-approved builds — a structural move against fragmentation that makes 'compatible with Google services' a product tier Google itself polices.
- The combination of a device store and a unified media storefront points toward Google integrating hardware, apps, and content under one roof, mirroring the vertically integrated model Apple pioneered.
The trend: Android is moving from an open-licensing free-for-all toward Google-controlled hardware and storefront distribution, with the 2012 tablet store and Google Play as the clearest markers yet.