Google Nexus 7 tablet buyers shun cloud storage

BANGALORE, INDIA: No doubt Google's Nexus 7 tablet is a hit, but the catch here is that instead of buying 8GB model of the tablet, which costs $199 (£159) and comes with additional free cloud storage, users are buying the 16GB version of the tablet that costs $249 (£199), so much so that the latter has already ran out of stock.

Users seem to prefer the 16 GB version of the tablet over its lesser memory variant for the fact that the latter does not have expandable storage option as it lacks a Micro SD card slot and are even willing to fork out extra $50 for $7.50 worth of extra storage of the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean device.

During the tablet's launch in June 27 the maker had anticipated that the 8 GB version of the tablet will be preferred over the 16 GB version. Contradictory to this the 16 GB has ran out of stock, while there seems to be less demand for the 8GB version of the Google Nexus 7 tablet.

According to a report on The Guardian, Google has now stopped taking new orders for the 16GB tablet via its online store, Google Play store, in the US and UK. It has indicated that those who had placed orders till 20 July will get the devices. While others, who tried to place orders after that have been getting the message, “sign up to be notified by email”.

"Sources close to Google say the search giant seriously underestimated the demand for the 16GB version of its Nexus 7 tablet, which has sold out from stockists and other sources while demand for the smaller 8GB version remains comparatively low,' adds the report.

It will be worth watching whether Google, after seeing the trend, will try and tweak some expandable memory options into the 8GB version of its Nexus 7 tablet, or try new means to push the cloud storage concept or announce a new 32 GB variant of the tablet.