Google (GOOG): Your New Hardware Supplier?

Google Chrome OS Chromebooks

During a television interview with Charlie Rose earlier this week, Google CEO Larry Page reiterated a common theme: To give customers a fantastic end-user experience, you sometimes need to control the hardware and the software… the entire system.

Will Page update that statement during the Google I/O conference in June 2012? The VAR Guy and most rational Google followers would certainly bet yes. Google’s $12.5 billion buyout of Motorola Mobility became official this week. Google needs to maintain solid relationships with hardware partners like Asus, Samsung and HTC, so The VAR Guy wonders how aggressively Page will evangelize the Motorola Mobility buyout at Google I/O.

Google will also need to update its Chromebook strategy at Google I/O. Chromebooks run ChromeOS and are essentially cloud-based notebooks that schools and businesses can use for a flat monthly fee. Chromebooks, backed by Acer and Samsung,  have not been big sellers to date. Will Google double-down on Chromebooks are reconsider the strategy entirely? Hmmm… Again, stay tuned for answers at Google I/O.

Oh, and don’t forget about the next wave of low-cost Google Android tablets. Google apparently is working with Asus on a 7-inch tablet that would cost about $199 or $200. Here again, The VAR Guy expects updates at Google I/O.