The Nexus 9 has already been discontinued by Google, further fueling speculations that a replacement slate, the refreshed 2016 edition of Nexus 7, is not that far from being unveiled.

According to TechSpot, Google has already pulled out the Nexus 9 listing from the Google Store, meaning that the Nexus slate is already scratched off from the Google lineup. To date, only the Pixel C tablet is the available iteration for Google fans.

While Google has yet to say why it quietly discontinued the Google Nexus slate almost a year and a half from its launch, the industry follower said that the Nexus 9 has been beset by issues right from its unveiling. In addition, its release is also beset by problems, bad reviews, and negative feedback.

However, given that the specs sheet of the Nexus 9 is decent, Google may follow it up with a refreshed Nexus 7 tablet. Rumors about the new Nexus 7 have already circulated online, with speculations suggesting that Google has tapped Huawei to be the slate's maker. Huawei as a partner is not unexpected, given that the China-based tech giant has successfully released the current Nexus smartphone flagship, the Nexus 6P. Meanwhile, there are rumors that Google has already partnered with HTC to make the next Nexus flagships, and this may include the 2016 edition of the Nexus 7 (HTC is also the maker of the Nexus 9).

Under the hood, the refreshed Nexus 7 may be a bit above-average overall compared to its predecessors, which were aimed as budget-friendly iterations. This means that the new Nexus 7 can be expected to carry above-average specs such as a decent Snapdragon processor, or even a new chipset from Nvidia (the Nexus 9 ran on Nvidia Tegra K1 chipset) like the Tegra X1. Meanwhile, it may have a minimum of 2GB RAM, and can even go as high as having a 4GB one as a premium edition.