Google Inc., undaunted by a short-lived attempt to sell a smartphone on its own, is now pushing into Apple's iPad market.
The Internet search company is planning to market and sell tablets directly to consumers through an online store, similar to rivals Apple and Amazon.com Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The move is an effort to turn around sluggish sales of tablet computers powered by Google's Android software.
Some of the online store's future tablets are expected to be co-branded with Google's name, said people familiar with the matter. Google won't make the devices and its existing partners such as Samsung Electronics Co. and ASUSTeK Computer Inc. will be responsible for the hardware. One Android tablet that may be sold in the online store is due to be released later this year by Taiwan-based Asus, said one of these people.
Some details about the project remain unclear, including when Google plans to unveil the online store. Google is expected to release the next version of its Android software, called Jelly Bean, in the middle of this year, people familiar with the matter have said.
A Google spokesman declined comment, as did an Asus spokeswoman.
To boost the prospects of its new online store for tablets, Google has considered subsidizing the cost of future tablets in order to compete on pricing with Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire, said one person with knowledge of the effort.
With Google's new online store, which will add a new revenue source, the company is showing it isn't discouraged by a brief attempt to sell smartphones directly to consumers in 2010. At the time, Google offered an Android-powered smartphone called Nexus One that was manufactured by HTC Corp. But the effort was discontinued after several months amid increased sales of other Android-powered smartphones.
Write to Amir Efrati at amir.efrati@wsj.com
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