Tech website AndroidandMe says that its information comes from two separate sources, who say that Google approached Asus after being impressed with the $249 Memo 370T tablet at CES. The tablet has a 7-inch display and quad-core processor, and the sources say that Google has asked Asus if it could reduce the bill of the materials for its own-brand tablet to reach the $199 price point.

There have already been a spate of rumors regarding an own-brand Google tablet, with Taiwanese news source Digitimes claiming that the first model will be 7-inches in size, run Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) and will sell for approximately $200. Market researchers believe the tablet could come into production as soon as next month.

In December of last year, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt told an Italian newspaper that Google intended to “market a tablet of the highest quality” within the next six months.