Sketchy rumor suggests Huawei could manufacture a new Nexus 7 in 2016

The last two Nexus 7 tablets were manufactured by ASUS, but if a new sketchy rumor (originating from none other than Chinese social network Weibo) is to be believed, Huawei — maker of the well-received Nexus 6P — could be next in line. Rumors from random users on Weibo aren’t usually the most dependable source of information, but this particular user seems to have experience in IC design and has more than 34,000 followers (and, to boot, seems to have at least some internal knowledge of Huawei, Oppo, and other Chinese companies)…

Based on the information we have, it looks like Google has — unsurprisingly — begun work on the new line of Nexus devices already. Specifically, it appears that the Mountain View company has intentions in introducing a refresh of the Nexus 7, a tablet that saw releases in both 2012 and 2013. Rather than refresh the Nexus 7 line, Google decided in 2014 to introduce a larger 8.9-inch “Nexus 9” manufactured by HTC. Reportedly, Huawei is showing strong interest in becoming the maker of a future Nexus tablet.

Roughly translated from Chinese to English, the post reads “2016 Google Nexus 7 project began, but did not determine to Huawei! Huawei still want to continue as Google surgeon!”

Huawei’s name has suddenly become recognizable to North American consumers in 2015, with the launch of the Nexus 6P (as mentioned), and the release of the well-reviewed Huawei Watch Android Wear smartwatch before that. Going into 2016, it will be interesting to see the company’s progress as it takes further steps into the United States market. Manufacturing a new Nexus 7 (especially if it has a metal body and the build quality of Huawei’s flagships) would be very welcome considering we haven’t had a great Nexus tablet in quite a while.