Asustek: Nexus 7 Sales Approaching 1 million a Month

By Eva Dou

Sales of Google Inc. ’s Nexus 7, made by Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc. , are closing in on 1 million units a month, the Taiwanese maker revealed.

The 7-inch tablet has created a big buzz this year with its low starting price of US$199, but both Google and Asustek have been cagey about revealing actual sales figures.

Asustek executives gave the clearest indication yet, following the company’s third-quarter earnings conference on Tuesday.

“At the beginning, it was, for instance, 500K units a month, then maybe 600, 700K. This latest month, it was close to 1 million,” Asustek Chief Financial Officer David Chang told The Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this month, tech blogs were circulating a third-quarter sales estimate of 800,000-1 million Nexus 7s based on an analysis of Google’s revenue figures. Asustek’s comments suggest the actual number was likely higher.

That number still pales in comparison to Apple’s third-quarter sales of 14 million iPads. A total of 25 million tablets were sold globally in the third quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

Building off the Nexus 7’s promising sales, Google is expanding its efforts to combat Apple’s dominance of the mobile market. Google yesterday unveiled two new siblings for the Nexus 7: the Nexus 10 tablet and Nexus 4 smartphone : The 10-inch tablet is priced at $399 for 16 gigabytes of storage, and the phone at $299 without a wireless contract.

More seven-inch tablets have also been launched this fall, as it becomes clear there is strong consumer appetite for devices this size. Petite tabs that have recently jumped into the fray include Apple’s 7.9-inch iPad mini for $329 and Amazon’s 7-inch Kindle Fire HD for $199.

Google spokeswoman Caroline Hsu said the company has not released sales figures for the Nexus 7.