Samsung doesn’t plan on selling many Galaxy Tabs, I guess….
A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about how an Android tablet can become more successful than the iPad. I listed some criteria which an Android tablet needed to possess in comparison to the iPad like awesome hardware, graphically pleasing interface and a much lower price point. Now that Samsung is going to launch their Galaxy Tab, it seems as if they haven’t read my post at all. Although Samsung has not confirmed any official prices for the Galaxy Tab, many rumors have been going around that places the price range of the Tab between $600-$800 for a 16GB model.
Seeing that the iPad(16GB) is yours from up to $499, this really disappoints me. Okay, the Galaxy Tab has built in camera’s (front and back) and you can make phone calls with it, but for the rest it does not really check off more points on my list of criteria to make it better than the iPad. The Android (2.2) interface is definately not more graphically pleasing than iOS at this point, and the iPad has almost 3 inches of extra screen space. I also think the iPad looks nicer and has better build quality than the Galaxy Tab. The big reason why anyone would choose the Galaxy Tab over an iPad would be if it costs around $400, but is almost double than that in most estimates.
I hate choosing an Apple product over an Android device, but in this case the choice for the iPad is not just arguable on an emotional level, it’s just logical.
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It’s just that Samsung could have gotten a real competitor for the iPad out of the Galaxy Tab, if they would have priced it below the price point of the iPad.
Apple products just have that more of an emotional appeal because of their look and feel and the strength of the Apple brand. To overcome this the price of an iPad competitor has to be significantly lower. Or at least match the expensive look and feel of the iPad to explain the high price.
Samsung did not focus on this which I think is a missed chance….
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That I get. Samsung said that they feel they have something better than an iPad. I’m pretty sure they do. But they think that will translate into purchases at the rumored price level. I think if they priced it at the 16GB 3G iPad, there would be no contest.
It’s not the hardware that’s missing or added between them; It’s the moxy of the business people to see what they can get away with pricing wise.
If you go watch the 9 and some odd sec long video that shows the Tab being used, I think you’ll see an excellent user experience. So we’re strictly talking about Samsung pricing themselves out of the market.
I for one was disappointed about the iPad, I wanted more in it. The Tab completes the feature set I wanted in a mobile device. And I will be getting it if the price does not go up at launch. I’ve seen 700-1300 USD between UK, Europe and the US. on 11/1 we’ll see where it lands.
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I totally agree with you on this. Samsung definitely has the better device, hardware wise, and the user experience right now is a decent competitor to iOS on the iPad. With Android 3.0 this is only going to get better.
However, the price point ruins the perfect picture. The iPad has set the price point for high end tablets. For the Galaxy Tab to be a serious competitor, Samsung has to stick to this price point….or most people will still go for the iPad, because it has become synonymous to a tablet.
It is going to be interesting to see how this will play out….
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Add:
$130 to your iPad price to give it the 3G radio that they Galaxy Tab comes with.
Front and rear cameras.
More portable.
Hackable.
Can tether with out the blessing of the Carrier.
If you’re going to be disapointed, be that way about the fact that the carriers can remove voice call capability as their whim.