Walmart is taking on Amazon, not Apple, with its upcoming tablet
Soon, those searching for a cheap Android tablet won’t have to deal with the lack of Google Play Services found on the low-priced Amazon Fire Tablets. The line, powered by a forked version of Android, does not come with core Google apps including the Play Store. Instead, Amazon’s own app storefront is included. A tweet disseminated by XDA’s Mishall Rahman reveals that discount retailer Walmart is prepping an 8-inch Android slate that has Android 9 Pie pre-installed. The device will offer the usual bevy of Google apps and will feature the Google Play Store. Made in China, the tablet will carry Walmart’s own ONN brand, which it uses on low-priced tech accessories like headphones and cables.
The new tablet, model number ONA19TB002, is expected to be “kid-friendly” according to a subsequent Bloomberg report. The 8-inch display will carry a resolution of 1200 x 800. Other specs included in Rahman’s tweet mention that the tablet will have a quad-core MediaTek MT8163 chipset under the hood, along with 2GB of memory and 16GB of expandable storage. The slate will have a microUSB port, and carry a 3500mAh battery.
Walmart’s tablet has already received certification from the FCC, and could be priced under $200. A low priced tablet like this will probably not to do much to reverse the decline in shipments of the device. Strategy Analytics says that tablet shipments declined 6.2% last year. The Apple iPad remains the market share leader followed by Samsung and Amazon.