Exclusive: Google's Rubin and Asus's Shih on Cooking Up the Nexus 7 - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD

But they'll make it up on volume -- and by leveraging your personal data

"One way the companies managed that is through razor-thin margins. Google is selling the device through its Google Play store, essentially at cost, and also absorbing the marketing costs associated with the device.
“When it gets sold through the Play store, there’s no margin,” Rubin said. “It just basically gets (sold) through.”"

Exclusive: Google's Rubin and Asus's Shih on Cooking Up the Nexus 7 - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD