Google Nexus 7 16 GB Sells Out, is Android's First Tablet Hit

From DailyTech: While the Galaxy Tab 10.1 from Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (KSC:005930) saw some modest international sales success, no Android tablet to date has truly challenged market dominator Apple, Inc. (AAPL), unless you count Amazon.com, Inc.'s (AMZN) quasi-Android Kindle Fire.

Google Inc.'s (GOOG) new Nexus 7 tablet runs the main-line Android release -- specifically Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" -- unlike the Kindle Fire, which runs Amazon's own special fork of Android. But the tablets do share a common price -- $199 USD for the 8 GB Nexus 7.

Now they share something else -- the Nexus 7 appears to be the first pure-Android tablet to be a market-moving hit.

Google reports that despite demand for the 8 GB variant being soft, it is seeing wild demand for the 16 GB version that retails for a modest $249 USD. The tablets are reportedly sold at cost, which may be part of their strong appeal.

The sales success of the higher-storage variant is unusual, given that competitors like Research in Motion, Ltd. (TSE:RIM) have typically seen their highest sales with the cheaper lower-storage models. In fact, the success took Google by surprise and the company has now been forced to put sales of the popular 16 GB model on hiatus, as it struggles to catch up with a back-log of orders in the U.S. and UK.

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