It's been a while since HTC was in the tablet-making business.

The company stopped making its Flyer tablet in 2011 and hasn't released a tablet since. But rumors are swirling that Google has chosen HTC to make the company's latest tablet, the Nexus 9, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Neither Google nor HTC have confirmed this partnership, but sources close to the deal say its been agreed upon and that HTC engineers have been visiting the Google headquarters to work on the project.

Google has a history of working with a wide range of partners on its devices and some say the company doesn't like to continue working with the same company on consecutive devices, to avoid any kind of monopoly.

Even though HTC hasn't made a tablet in a few years, its One smartphones -- which run Google's Android operating system -- are highly regarded. Several reviewers have said the HTC One is the best Android smartphone.

Google wouldn't comment on specific reasons why it doesn't work with the same partners device after device, and released a statement that said: "Android is a vibrant ecosystem, and many of the industry players are doing very well. There's room for many partners to do well and to innovate with Android."

Google and HTC have worked together before, on the Nexus One in 2010, but have not partnered since then.

HTC has been losing market share in the smartphone market and its executives have been looking to get into other devices. Working with Google has been profitable for companies in the past; Asus had a spike in profits after producing the Nexus 7 in 2012.

No release date has been given for the new Nexus tablet, but rumor has it that the device will be announced officially on Oct. 16. International Business Times reported that Halloween could be the release date for the tablet.