Google Inc is planning to open an online store to sell tablet PCs directly to consumers, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal on March 29.
The online store would offer tablets made by Samsung Electronics Co and Asustek Computer Inc based on Google’s Android software, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources and which Reuters was not able to confirm.
Google briefly sold a specially-designed Android smartphone — the Nexus One — directly to consumers in 2010, but closed the store after four months saying it had not lived up to expectations.
Photo: EPA
照片：歐新社
Google now relies on retail and carrier partners to sell Android smartphones made by a variety of handset makers and Android has become the world’s No.1 smartphone operating system, ahead of iPhone-maker Apple Inc.
Google may co-brand some of the tablets sold through the store and has considered subsidizing the cost of future tablets to make them more competitive with the Kindle Fire, according to The Wall Street Journal report. It is unclear when Google plans to open the store.
(Reuters)
Google正打算開設一家線上商店，直接賣平板電腦給消費者，據《華爾街日報》三月二十九日報導。
該線上商店將供應由三星電子及華碩電腦公司製造、以Google的Android軟體為基礎的平板電腦，該報導引述匿名消息人士說，而路透無法證實這項消息。
Google曾在二○一○年直接向消費者出售特別設計過的Android智慧型手機Nexus One，但四個月後就關門大吉，指該店銷售情況未如預期。
Google目前仰賴零售及電信營運商夥伴來銷售由各家手機廠生產的Android智慧型手機，而Android已經成為全球排名第一的智慧型手機作業系統，領先iPhone製造商蘋果公司。
根據該報報導，Google可能對該商店銷售的部分平板電腦採取品牌合作策略，並考慮補貼未來的平板電腦成本，提高與Kindle Fire的競爭力。尚不清楚Google打算何時開這家商店。
（路透/翻譯：陳成良）
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