Google plans to open a new front in its hardware assault on Apple with a new ultraslim Chromebook laptop.
The search giant has been making strides in winning customers with its smartphones and tablets, and will add a Google-branded Chromebook to its arsenal, according to reports out of Taiwan yesterday, quoting suppliers who said Google is ordering parts for such a device.
Google already partners with Samsung and Acer on lightweight laptops, but a new model is expected to follow in the footsteps of Nexus devices, which is what the company calls its specialty line of mobile products.
Chromebooks, which are stripped down to the bare computing essentials and store data in the cloud, were first launched by Google two years ago with limited appeal, but the form factor appears to be catching on.
Holiday shoppers are finding the latest Google Chromebooks, built by Samsung and costing $249, are hard to get ahold of in stores and online.
The Chromebook could be heading in the same direction as other Google-branded hardware, which in the past struggled to find an audience but all of a sudden are grabbing a share of the tablet and smartphone markets.
Google’s Nexus products have gone from showcase products with little mainstream success to commercial hits in some cases:
* In 2009, the Nexus One was the first Google-branded smartphone, but it mostly flopped.
* In 2011, Google bought Motorola Mobility, a company with a hardware history.
* Earlier this year, Google failed miserably with the Nexus Q, a media-streaming device for the home.
* In June, the Nexus 7 tablet was the first Google-branded slate.
* This month, the Nexus 4 phone is already a hot holiday seller.
That’s a far cry from early Nexus products, which failed to spark much consumer interest.
Google is capitalizing on its popular Android phones and luring customers, hooked on its platform, to other screens.
The new Nexus Chromebook could ship by the end of the year, according to reports yesterday, and would feature a 12.85-inch touchscreen.
The new device would be the latest to advance Google’s master plan of building software and hardware, taking on Apple at its own game.
Also, Google is taking direct aim at Microsoft’s Surface tablet, which has a laptop form combined with tablet-like touchscreen.
Google shares closed yesterday at $661.15, down 1 percent.