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Google Chrome Tablet to Begin Selling on Black Friday?

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Download Squad is reporting that a Google Tablet, built by HTC, running Chrome, and connected up by Verizon will go on sale on November 26. That’s the traditional Black Friday shopping crazy day after Thanksgiving here in the US. While DS is reporting this full on, it’s still conjecture this point, especially as to the specs and price.

Call me curious, but in my pea brain, if we’ve got Android Tablet/Slates due to hit (supposedly around the same time frame) and a Chrome Tablet, I’m anxious to see how these things get differentiated for the market place. Or will that really matter in the end?

6 Comments

6 Comments

  1. Sumocat

    08/18/2010 at 9:15 am

    Either the guys at Verizon are idiots for launching a new tablet on Black Friday or the guys at DS are crazy for thinking that makes any sense.

    A) Black Friday is the most competitive shopping day of the year. It’s a great day to sell, but a terrible day to *launch* a new product, competing against limited time sales and family events.

    B) If, as DS claims, the product will be subsidized, then you’ll have to sign up for a two-year contract, which won’t be used for the first month (between Black Friday and Christmas), and you’ll be giving someone the “gift” of a two-year contract (and only a narrow window to get out of it), unless you pick up the tab yourself, which will amount to over $1440 assuming Verizon’s standard $60 monthly data fee. There’s a reason Verizon pushes prepaid GoPhones over the holidays.

    C) If they’re defying the BF trend and aiming for buyers who are buying for themselves, then there’s no point in launching on BF.

    Basically, it’s dumb to launch a product on Black Friday, and dumber still if it’s a device with a big monthly fee attached to it. Given Verizon’s past performance with holiday marketing, shifting from high-end devices to gift-suitable GoPhones, I doubt they’re making this mistake.

    • CBONE

      08/18/2010 at 9:36 am

      Sumocat, how can you think it’s a bad idea to start selling on BF?
      A) Who cares how competitive it is for the set of all products, if they can create suitable demand?
      B) You sign up when you fire up the device for the first time, just like activating a cell phone.

      cont.

      • Sumocat

        08/18/2010 at 11:38 am

        A) The problem is they’d be competing for time and money on a day when both are already scarce. BF shoppers have to choose between which stores to hit and when, as well as spend time with their families. And let’s not forget that Verizon staff will already have their hands full with their usual BF sales.

        B) Assuming that’s true for non-phones, the activation window is 30 days before you are charged full price and there are 28 days between BF and Christmas. That timing does not strike me as being reasonable.

  2. CBONE

    08/18/2010 at 9:16 am

    if this rumor is true & it is available everywhere verizon sells phones on Black Friday (target, walmart, best buy, etc.), expect it to be the MUST POSSESS item of the year. All it needs is Droid branding and sneaky hint marketing before the media blitz touting availability everywhere verizon sells phones.

  3. slbailey1

    08/18/2010 at 10:49 am

    I love the rumored specs for this tablet:
    1. Tegra 2 processor
    2. 2gb Ram
    3. 32gb SSD
    4. 1028×720 display
    5. GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3g
    6. Made by HTC

    Since the OS is based on Chrome it should have Silverlight, therefore I should be able to access Microsoft Skydrive and Office Web Apps. Since the tablet will be made by HTC the implementation of the UI and Exchange should be great.

    What will make this perfect tablet is access to the Android Market. Does anyone know if this tablet will have access to the Android Market?

  4. best black fridays 2010

    11/14/2010 at 1:19 pm

    wish more people would write blogs like this that are actually fun to read. With all the crap floating around on the web, it is a great change of pace to read a blog like yours instead.

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