

Samsung Admits Galaxy Tab Sales Are 'Quite Small' - gamble
http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/01/31/samsung.admits.galaxy.tab.sales.poorer.than.claims/

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zyb09
Well I'm definitely on the Android side of things, but never would I recommend
buying the Galaxy Tab over the iPad. The iPad got accused of being just a
bigger iPod Touch, but here they've literally just put a phone OS, which isn't
even the latest anymore, on a bigger screen. On top of that it's also smaller
and more expensive than the iPad.

Things will get interesting with the arrival of Android 3.0 tablets, but for
now I'd rather stay away from the Galaxy Tab.

~~~
NathanKP
The galaxy tab is frankly quite terrible. I tried one out in the local
T-mobile store and was surprised at how awkward it felt. The keyboard was
rather inaccurate and it was hard to do basic things like change the URL in
the browser. Overall the experience felt very non intuitive, even though the
interface looked polished.

Don't be deceived by the pretty screenshots, actually using the Galaxy tab is
a pain.

------
strlen
I like my Tab for several reasons:

The form factor (it's perfect for reading eBooks at the gym or elsewhere), and
the fact I can do what I'd like to easier with Android than with iOS. It does
indeed feel like "just a big Galaxy S" (that will change with future tablets),
but an Android phone feels a lot more like a real computer than an iOS device:
I have a file system on it, I can copy files (eBooks, PDFs, media) to it
manually from my Linux desktop, I can use an alternative media player (Winamp)
or an alternative music store (Amazon MP3).

Perhaps these benefits make no sense to a regular consumer, but to a nerd like
myself this is a major benefit: the iPad, to me, provides very little of the
functionality that I'd look in a device of its size, the Galaxy Tab provides
what more of what I am looking for.

It's true that there will better Android Tablets "tomorrow", but there will be
even better ones "day after tomorrow". I wanted to read papers and eBooks,
comfortably browse the web and watch video lectures at the gym; Galaxy Tab
provides it now, there's no need for me to have the latest revision for that
(I ran my entire site on a 40 mhz Sparc 10 running OpenBSD well into
mid-2000s, as it handled mail, DNS and static web files just fine).

~~~
dpcan
I also like my Tab for the same reasons.

It actually fits in the pocket of my jeans in a pinch. It's kind-of like
putting a book in my pocket, but at least my hands are free.

The battery life on mine is ridiculously GOOD. I charge it maybe once a week,
but I play games on it at night, I surf the web on it at various times
throughout the day, and I'll read my books on it too.

I'd personally recommend the tab to anyone wanting a tablet. Maybe not to
people who are in love with some of the games on iPhone, but otherwise, it's
just slick and wonderful.

And dare I say ... FLASH. I can actually view Flash on websites when I need
to. It's rare, but I can if I have to and that's a nice thing.

EDIT: Some Flash works. I can't watch Hulu yet for example. Not sure if that's
a Flash thing or a Hulu thing.

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xiaomai
This doesn't come as a surprise to me. I was super excited for the Galaxy Tab
when I first heard about it, but the price point is way too high. A non-apple
tablet needs to be much cheaper to beat the iPad (I was thinking $300 for the
wifi-only model would be fair).

After hearing about Samsung's reluctance to update Android on the Galaxy
phones, I don't think I would buy one of these even if the price did lower.

~~~
sjs382
Exactly why I'm waiting for the Nook Color ROMs to become more stable. It's a
great piece of hardware and the price is just right at $250.

$500 is way too expensive, and all of the other Android tablets are just
_terrible_.

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cdibona
I will only say this about the Tab: They're crazy durable. I've dropped mine
an absurd number of times from absurd heights. That gorilla glass is
something.

~~~
nitrogen
Interesting. Maybe the Tab can find niche use in harsh environments like
warehouses or factory floors.

~~~
iuygthn
Touch screens suck in those environments.

We used to use a fancy touchscreen gadget in mining - where everything is
covered in water, oid, dust and you wear gloves - genius idea!

~~~
nzmsv
There are touchscreen technologies that claim to work in these kinds of
environments. Namely, infrared and surface acoustic wave. But I don't know how
well they actually hold up in the real world.

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SteveC
The price is simply wrong (for me). I haven't bought an iPad because I think
they're overpriced. If either of these devices were £250 ($400) I'd buy it in
a heartbeat. I did it when Amazon dropped the price of the Kindle.

~~~
irons
And yet, because the iPad is priced quite aggressively, you are not going to
find yourself buying one for quite a while, and competitors like Samsung are
between a rock and a hard place.

It's kind of remarkable how Apple's used its old reputation as overpriced as a
competitive weapon here. If you're expecting a wifi-only tablet to cost
significantly less than an iPad, then the subsidized version of the same gizmo
on a contract can't cost any more than a Happy Meal. Nobody can make money
selling that device.

------
dkarl
It makes sense. Nobody has the credibility Apple has in this space. When Apple
put iPads in the stores, everyone paid attention and took for granted it was
something potentially great. Samsung has no credibility, so they are fighting
against the tablet novelty and a huge history of "me-too" devices put out to
compete with Apple. (I'm thinking of the "iPhone competitor" phones many
companies put out that were nothing but cell phones with a color interface, a
gimmicky touch screen, some horrid interface for playing mp3s, and a crippled
browser.)

Ordinary consumers will not feel comfortable buying non-Apple tablets until
they have a better idea what a tablet actually is and how to shop for one.

~~~
ergo98
"Ordinary consumers will not feel comfortable buying non-Apple tablets until
they have a better idea what a tablet actually is and how to shop for one."

Bizarre.

The Tab hasn't sold well simply because it's not that great of a product
(largely because it came with Froyo which is decidedly not ready for the form
factor), sold at a really high price. I'm an Android guy, but I had zero
interest in the device (just as I have no interest in the Nexus S).

The upcoming Honeycomb devices are far more convincing, however.

~~~
dkarl
When expectations were on the order of millions of units, they must have
expected some non-hacker consumers to buy the units for themselves or as
gifts. Even if every Android guy and HNer in the world bought a Galaxy Tab,
they still wouldn't sell a million without significant numbers of ordinary
consumers deciding to buy one on the basis of ads, retail displays, and
consumer electronics reviews. But that won't happen, because consumers won't
pay several hundred dollars when they don't know how to distinguish a quality
product from a crappy gimmick, especially when they know from past experience
that (at least some) electronics manufacturers will rush to bring out a
superficially similar competitor without waiting until they can replicate the
technology.

Imagine if there was no Android -- you think there would be no competitors to
the iPad? Someone would toss together something worthless based on Windows CE
or Palm OS and call it an "iPad killer." Consumers do NOT want to fall for
that, and the only way they know how to avoid it is to steer clear of non-
Apple tablets for now.

Uptake of Android tablets will depend on tech-savvy folks buying them, showing
them to their friends, who will buy Android tablets and show them to _their_
friends, and so on. It will be slow.

~~~
chc
Geek opinion can go further than just the people who hold those opinions. For
example, device enthusiasts' lack of acceptance means that everybody's "Guy
who knows about computers/phones/electronic gizmos" is giving the Galaxy Tab a
thumbs-down. When you're selling a pricier alternative to an established
brand, you _need_ those cheerleaders.

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aubergene
I would have bought one, if it worked as a phone as well. I barely use the
phone, but I don't want to have to carry a separate phone with me. It could be
a trifle thinner, but it just about fitted in my inside jacket pocket

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Aegean
The reason is it is the second best. It doesn't solve the problems the ipad
solves any better.

If it tried to solve only slightly different problems, it could still have a
good market share even if it wasn't as famous as the ipad.

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cletus
_I knew the Tab numbers were fishy._ in fact, I said as much today [1]. I've
just never seen one in the wild and I had a hard believing Android had
garnered a 22% segment of last quarter shipments.

I too agree the lack of a competitor for the $499 16GB Wifi iPad.

Plus I'm still not convinced the 7" form factor is going to have mass appeal.

Android manufacturers really do themselves a disservice with these kinds of
lies ("mistruths" or "exaggerations" if you prefer).

I would be surprised if the iPad's market share was less than 90% of last
quarter and 95% of total.

[1]: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2161624>

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axod
They just dropped the price 20% here. Getting more tempting...

~~~
cryptoz
It's still not worth it at that price, IMO. The Tab was ahead of it's time,
and now that its time is here it's behind. Wait for a real Honeycomb tablet;
you'll be so upset if you don't.

