A new report claims that Nokia has decided to cancel its upcoming 8-inch Windows tablet due to Microsoft's plans to release an 8-inch Surface tablet.
Nokia can easily be credited with making Microsoft's Windows Phone OS a formidable player in the smartphone world with the success of its Lumia smartphones. Nokia most recently ventured into the tablet world with its 10.1-inch Lumia 2520 Windows RT 8.1 tablet. The tablet bears a striking resemblance to Microsoft's very own Surface 2, which features similar specs, snap-in keyboards, price point, and has actually been considered by many reviewers as a better tablet than Microsoft's offering.
Various reports suggested that Nokia has been working on a smaller 8.3-inch Lumia tablet called the Lumia 2020. The tablet has been designed to address to popularity and increasing growth of smaller-sized tablets. The tablet, which has been going by the codename "Illusionist," was reportedly built with many of the same specs found in the larger Lumia 2520, including a powerful quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the same high-end camera found on the 10.1-inch Nokia tablet, and the same 1920 x 1080 Full HD display that would have a higher pixel density due to its smaller display (just like Apple's iPad mini with Retina display when compared to the iPad Air).
Now that Microsoft has acquired Nokia's device division, a new report claims that the Lumia 2020, which was believed to debut in Q1 2014, has been cancelled. My Nokia Blog is reporting that it a very reliable source claimed that Nokia and Microsoft executives have decided to cancel the 8.3-inch tablet.
It is widely believed that the cancellation has come from Microsoft because it has been developing its own 8-inch Surface tablet. Microsoft is expected to launch its Surface Mini in early 2014 and may see Nokia as competition, as the Lumia 2520 has already cut into sales of its new Surface 2 and the introduction of the 8.3-inch Lumia 2020 would almost certainly cut into sales of the Surface Mini.
As always, we'll have to file this report in the rumor category for now, but it certainly seems to make sense for Microsoft to put the Lumia 2020 on ice as it tries to make a name for itself and its Surface tablets in the crowded tablet market.
