With the iPad mini flying into stores this Friday, some might see the end of the road for Google's Nexus 7 tablet -- but manufacturer Asustek claims that's not the case, with shipments fast approaching seven digits each month.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Taiwanese Nexus 7 manufacturer Asustek is closing in on one million units per month, which adds up to a lot of cash even for a $199 tablet.

The Google Android 4.1 Jelly Bean-powered seven-inch tablet debuted in June, and Asustek's CFO claims it's been building slowly in the months since, narrowly missing the one million unit per month mark in October.

“At the beginning, it was, for instance, 500K units a month, then maybe 600, 700K," Asustek Chief Financial Officer David Chang said following the company's third-quarter financials released on Tuesday. "This latest month, it was close to one million."

Of course, that number pales in comparison to Apple's iPad, which dominated the tablet market with 14 million units sold in the third quarter out of 25 million such devices sold around the world.

Google announced on Monday that the Nexus 7 now ships with 16GB of storage for the same $199, with the $249 model bumped to 32GB; an unlocked 3G-equipped model is expected in November for $299 as well. The search giant also debuted the Nexus 10, a Samsung-built tablet intended to take on the iPad directly, which starts at $399.

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