HTC may have taken a break from building tablets, but it’s back in the game with the new Nexus 9 and it has more up its sleeve for 2015. The Taiwanese company’s North Asia President has promised we’ll see new slates next year, and all of them will be “high-end and mid-tier.”

At an event in Taipei, HTC’s Jack Tong said that following the launch of the Nexus 9, the world’s first device to ship with Android 5.0 Lollipop pre-installed, consumers can expect to see new HTC-branded slates in 2015. None of them will be low-end devices, however, because Tong says super affordable slates simply aren’t profitable.

“It’s not a profitable market,” Tong told attendees at an event in Taipei, referring to tablets priced at under $160. “There is actually a bit more room for growth and product differentiation in the high-end and mid-tier tablet segments.”

Tong didn’t go into detail about HTC’s tablet plans, but he did hint at the possibility of larger slates by adding that the status of 7-inch tablets has somewhat been blurred by big, 5.5-inch smartphones. The Nexus 9 has an 8.9-inch display, and we wouldn’t be too surprised if HTC kicks off its own tablet lineup with a re-branded version of that.

If you appreciate HTC design but you can’t wait until next year to get a new tablet, then you can pick up the Nexus 9 from Google Play now for $399.

• SourceFocus Taiwan