As Apple (AAPL) wades into the 7-inch tablet market with the pending release of an "iPad Mini," rival Google (GOOG) is not sitting still.

Supply-chain checks suggest that Google is working with Samsung (SSNLF) to co-brand a 10.1-inch Nexus tablet intended to compete with the full-sized iPad, CNET reported.

"It's going to be a high-end device," Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD Display Search, told CNET. The new Nexus reportedly will have a higher pixel density than the Retina display featured on the latest version of the iPad. 

The device would mark the first time Google will be working with Samsung on something other than a smartphone.  

The iPad has dominated the high-end tablet market since it was released in 2010. But could a Google-Samsung partnership jeopardize that dominance? 

Apple's reign in the tablet market is already eroding, says Larry Magid at Forbes, who notes that Apple's share of the tablet market has slipped to 51% this year from 81% a year ago.

Apple should get a slight bump from the Mini,  Magid says, but  adds, "I'm convinced that it will continue to lose market share to Android devices, just as it has in the smartphone market." 

Samsung is already "the single biggest threat to Apple in the smartphone market," Magid says, and a close partnership with Google could prove to be "a powerful combination."

At $200, Google's current Nexus 7 is "the best 7-inch tablet yet, and the first Android tablet worth owning," says Dylan Tweney at VentureBeat. 

Still, rivals continue spending money creating an Android tablet that might be the "iPad killer," says Brad Reed at BGR. Yet the iPad continually proves to be "pretty bulletproof."

Of course, if any two companies have a shot of ending the iPad's dominance, it's Samsung and Google. Their respective Galaxy S III and Nexus 7 devices are the two hottest sellers among non-Apple products this year, and both companies have considerable marketing budgets to throw behind a co-branded 10.1-inch tablet.  

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