Samsung To Launch Galaxy Tab Globally In 2010

The first real Android alternative to the iPad

If I previously said that there’s very little chance for other tablets to become more popular than the iPad, unless manufacturers decide to keep prices low, now I’m coming back to correct my initial statement by adding that making their products available worldwide might also help company achieve higher tablet sales numbers. Truth be told, Apple’s iPad is still not available in a lot of parts of the world. People there will just have to settle for looking at photos of tablets and hoping that one day they’ll be available in stores for them to buy.

This is why Samsung has a pretty nice approach and it might manage to sell a pretty high number of Galaxy Tabs post the product’s release on the market. According to Reuters, Samsung Electronics has recently revealed that it plans to sell its Galaxy Tab tablet computer in the US, Japan, South Korea and Italy this year, which is a pretty good start. Moreover, in the US the Galaxy Tab will be available through all of the major carriers, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. Instead of being forced to choose a certain carrier so that they can have the tablet they want, people will be able to buy the product from their favorite service provider.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab front and back view

Even though Dell and HP have their own products to offer and are getting ready to release more, most analysts believe that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab will be the only real rival for Apple’s iPad. The Samsung device is somewhat smaller and features a 7 inch screen, compared to the iPad’s 9.7 inch one. But it will offer slightly more portability and Android OS so some people might feel that it’s a reasonable if not appealing alternative. With a carrier contract, in the US, the Galaxy Tab will have a considerably lower price tag, but on other markets, such as Finland, its price will be higher than Apple’s product, so we’ve yet to see how people will respond to this.

As for Samsung’s timetable for releases, it looks like the tablet will start selling in Italy in October, in South Korea at the end of October towards the beginning of November and in the US and Japan in November. For starters, Samsung has set a 1 million unit sales target for this year. In Japan, the company will also debut its Galaxy S smartphone in October, taking advantage of the fact that Apple has already managed to convince Japanese people on the benefits of handsets manufactured in other parts of the world. Previously, Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo sold handsets specifically made for that market. In fact, until the iPhone, most mobile phone carriers were unable to breech the Japanese market with their products. Even Nokia, the world’s leader at producing handsets has failed to grab the attention of Japanese mobile phone users. But nowadays, people are lining up in front of stores to get their hands on Apple’s smartphones. This is a good indicator of how some companies may manage to prove successful on this particular market, assuming they’re selling the right product. On top of that, it also proves that Apple is capable of coming up with devices that appeal to virtually any type of user from all around the world.11