With the overwhelming demand for the 16GB version of the new Google Nexus 7 tablet far surpassing the company's expectations, the tablet is now officially `out of stock' on the Internet search giant's Google Play store.

According to a recent The Guardian report, citing unidentified sources familiar with the proceedings at Google, the company has acknowledged that it "seriously underestimated" the demand for the $249-priced 16GB version of its
7-inch tablet, the stocks of which had already dried at the bigwig retailers last week.

While the comparatively lesser-in-demand 8GB version of the Nexus 7 is still available, Google has halted all further orders of the 16GB version on the Google Play store in the US as well as the UK. Though the company will fulfill all the orders made till the end of last week, the halting of further orders results from shortage of stock.

Going by the current status of the 8GB and 16GB versions of the Nexus 7 on Google Play, while the former is being shown as "in stock", with its delivery to take 3-5 business days; the latter is only offers the option to "sign up to be notified by email" about its availability timeline.

About the stock shortages of 16GB Nexus 7 at Google Play, The Guardian report said Google's planners probably believed that customers on the company's store "would be more committed to the company's 'cloud' concept, and so would have more of their content stored online, rather than wanting to keep it on the device."