Samsung yesterday unveiled what the South Korean electronics giant hopes will be a major rival to Apple’s highly successful iPad tablet PC.
The Galaxy Tab, presented at the IFA electronics trade fair in Berlin, Germany, has a 17.8cm touchscreen, slightly smaller than the iPad’s 24.6cm, and uses Google’s Android 2.2 operating system.
IFA opened to the public today.
Potential
“Samsung recognizes the tremendous growth potential in this newly created market and we believe that the Samsung Galaxy Tab brings a unique and open proposition to market,” mobile communications unit head JK Shin said.
The Galaxy Tab, weighing 380g — almost half the iPad’s 680g — launches in Europe in the middle of this month, and in other markets including South Korea, the US and elsewhere in Asia in the coming months.
UNDERCUTTING?
However, Samsung gave no indication of whether the Galaxy Tab will undercut the iPad on price, which retails for US$499 in the US — or 499 euros (US$640) in Europe — for the basic model.
Reports in the trade press said that the Galaxy Tab will be more expensive, at 799 euros in Germany and 699 euros in France.
Apple sold more than 3 million iPads in the 80 days after going on sale in the US in April, with demand so strong that some US customers had to wait several weeks to get their hands on one.
Since then, the device, which used Apple’s own iOS operating system, has gone on sale in more than a dozen other countries and is poised to hit the shelves in China, the world’s largest Internet market, later this month.
The success caught California-based Apple’s competitors off balance, and they have been rushing to respond with their own tablet PCs.
Japan’s Toshiba was rumored to be also unveiling its own tablet PC in Berlin later yesterday. Samsung’s South Korean rival, LG Electronics, has promised to release a tablet PC using Android before December.
Sony Corp
Sony Corp, the world’s third-largest maker of televisions, hasn’t decided yet whether to offer its own tablet computer to compete with Apple Inc’s iPad.
A Sony tablet computer would need to “really differentiate” itself from the competition by “marrying” the hardware with Sony’s content, Kazuo Hirai, president of Sony’s Networked Products & Services Group, said in Berlin yesterday.
A “lot of manufacturers” are looking to offer tablet computers in an increasingly crowded market, he said.
SUCCESS
The success of the iPad is prompting rivals to offer their own tablet computers. Research In Motion Ltd is planning to introduce in November a tablet with a 24.6cm screen and Wi-Fi capability, according to two people familiar with the company’s plans. Verizon Wireless and Google Inc have discussed a tablet that would run on Android software, and Dell Inc released its US$299.99 Streak 12.5cm tablet last month.
“If it’s beautiful and competitive enough, I’d launch it,” Sony Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer said in Berlin yesterday about the company’s tablet computer plans.
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