Source: two new Nexus phones coming this year - 5.2" LG Angler and 5.7" Huawei Bullhead, no new Nexus tablet
[Rumor] No Nexus Tablet In 2015, But Two Phones—A 5.2-Inch LG (Code Name Angler) And A 5.7-Inch Huawei (Code Name Bullhead) — The Nexus 6 was a break from the past …
Context & Ripple Effects
After the oversized Nexus 6 broke from the program's compact formula, Google's 2015 lineup narrows back to two phones — a 5.2-inch LG device codenamed Angler and a 5.7-inch Huawei device codenamed Bullhead — while the tablet line goes dark entirely for the year. Bringing Huawei in alongside LG marks the second consecutive cycle with a new manufacturer on the Nexus brand.
The no-tablet call reads as a pause rather than an exit: within roughly a year the related coverage shows Google sourcing a Huawei-built Nexus tablet reportedly tied to Andromeda OS, while the two-phones-a-year structure persists with a larger HTC Nexus carrying a 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED panel and 3450mAh battery in 2016.
First-order effects
- LG inherits the smaller-slot Nexus successor to the Nexus 5, while Huawei gains its first reported Nexus phone slot — two vendors splitting one launch year instead of one exclusive partner.
Second-order effects
- With no 2015 tablet, Nexus tablet buyers are pushed toward third-party Android slates or deferred purchases until Google re-enters, which the later Huawei tablet reporting suggests is exactly what happened.
- The dual-OEM arrangement pressures each partner's own flagship lines — LG and Huawei now compete against devices they build for Google at reference pricing.
Third-order effects
- If the rotate-the-manufacturer pattern holds — Motorola, then LG plus Huawei, then HTC — the Nexus becomes a rotating contract Google awards annually, deepening Chinese vendors' entrenchment in the Android reference-hardware program.
- The 2015 tablet gap followed by a rumored Andromeda-based Huawei slate points toward Android and Chrome OS converging on a single Nexus-class device rather than separate tablet refreshes.
The trend: Google is turning the Nexus into a multi-vendor, annually rotated hardware program where the phone line sets the cadence and tablets return only when tied to a platform merger.