Google appears to have sold out of the higher-capacity version of its Nexus 7 tablet in the UK and US, at least on its own site.
The company has recently returned to direct hardware sales, listing its latest Nexus devices on its Google Play store. As of the weekend, the 16GB version of the Nexus 7 — which launched last week — was no longer available in the store.
“16GB coming soon — leave email for notification,” a message reads on the page. The 8GB version is still in stock on the Google Play store.
The Nexus 7 does not come with a microSD card slot, so its storage is not expandable. The 16GB version comes in at £40 more than the 8GB version, which costs £159.
Those opting for the cheaper version would be expected to make more use of Google’s cloud-based storage, although that only works when the Nexus 7 is connected to the internet. As the device is Wi-Fi only, continuous connectivity on the move would require it being tethered to a device that has a mobile broadband connection, probably a smartphone.
According to a report in The Guardian, Google had deliberately stocked more of the 8GB version on its Play store, in the expectation that those buying it through that channel would be more likely to buy into the cloud concept.
Meanwhile, the 16B version is the only iteration of the tablet to be stocked by bricks-and-mortar retailers. ZDNet UK has asked the Dixons Retail Group, which operates the Currys and PC World chains, whether they still have healthy stock levels of the 16GB Nexus 7, but had not received a reply at the time of writing.
Article source: http://www.zdnet.com/16gb-nexus-7-sells-out-on-google-play-store-7000001378/