Nokia entered the Windows tablet market in October, when it announced the Lumia 2520, a 10.1-inch slate running Windows RT 8.1. It’s just about to go on sale, but that hasn’t stopped rumors gathering about its next tablet project, tentatively known as the Lumia 2020. The latest news comes from DigiTimes.com, inside a report about multiple manufacturer’s tablet plans for the coming year.
The Lumia 2520’s name gives away its screen size, as 25 centimeters is near-as-makes-no-difference ,10-inches. It makes sense for a tablet named the 2020 to have a 20 centimeter screen, which is essentially 8-inches. Smaller tablets have done wonders for Android’s market share, and Microsoft will be keen to see if they’ll do the same for Windows. Not that Nokia will have the market to itself, as Lenovo, Toshiba, Dell, and Acer all over Windows slates with sensibly sized 8-inch touchscreens.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard about an 8-inch Nokia tablet, as at the beginning of the month, a hint of its existence came from the @evleaks Twitter account, where it was referred to under its Illusionist codename. The message also stated the tablet would be running Windows RT 8.1, just like its big brother.
The Verge chipped in with some anonymously sourced rumors, saying the tablet would use another Qualcomm processor – the ever popular Snapdragon 800 is inside the Lumia 2520 – and be released early next year. DigiTimes narrows this down to the first three months of 2014, which could mean it’ll launch at Mobile World Congress at the end of February.
Additionally, we should expect another tablet from Sony next year too, which no doubt wants to capitalize on the success of its Xperia Tablet Z, along with more mid-range hardware from Huawei and ZTE.