By Mobile World Congress is full of suits and big wigs from several companies in the telecom sect. One of those companies, of course, is Samsung. And one suit from Samsung was Hankil Yoon, a product strategy executive for the Korean company. Yoon’s not fond of sugar-coating, apparently, as he flat-out told CNET that Samsung just isn’t doing well in the tablet market.
Samsung’s strategy has been to bring out as many devices as they can, hoping to capture a large crowd by offering different sizes and features with each device. They say this not only allows them to target as many people as they can, but it allows them to compete with themselves in order to spur innovation and continue to develop new devices which push the envelope.
That it isn’t going well is no huge surprise. They exclusively use Android in this area and Android still owns very little of the tablet market share compared to Apple’s iOS. They may appear to be doing well for themselves against other competitors using Android, but Amazon’s aggressive pricing for their Kindle line has pulled a lot of dollars their way.
Don’t expect Samsung to bow out, though. They’ll continue to revamp their product line in an attempt to stay ahead of the curve and capture the attention of those who are always looking for the latest and greatest.
We can’t say for sure how long they can allow their tablet division to suffer but I’m guessing we won’t see any drastic changes until, at the earliest, next year. Let’s see if they can pick up some steam in 2012 with their aggressive marketing of the new Galaxy Note series.
They sell lotsa tablets in Indonesia at least. As far as I can see, More Galaxy Tabs than iPads
I think this is because Samsung doesn’t get it. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 came without a MicroSD slot. Users want the removable memory and memory expandability feature. Also, the price is still very high. And am I right in thinking they’ve stuck with the Tegra 2 for their Galaxy Tab 2 10.1? The Tegra 2 is rubbish for video playback so going with that proc is an epic fail straight away. Asus on the other hand is a manufacturer that does seem to get it. Their MeMo 370T tablet priced at $250 with top end specs is a real killer. I think that will really fly off the shelf. Samsung needs to understand what the users want and deliver that.
Samsung’s thin tablets are nice till they start sacrificing functionality. I want ports and SD cards always with the tablet, not in some pouch somewhere. The Note 10.1 doesn’t even have a housing for its stylus!
Tablets could be about twice as think as the iPad without making much difference for many of us. For phones this is true also. I’ve seen only one thick phone, and it looked like 2 1/2 to three regular smart phones pressed into one.
No they went with an Exynos chip this time around for the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1… Which should be a great improvement. I fully agree with you about Tegra 2. Video playback is abysmal and without MicroSD support one must stream nearly everything – not ideal on a WiFi model.
What is wrong with the internal memory supplied in the tablet? How often do you remove the SD Card in your Android phone? I have a 32GB Galaxy 10.1, and I love it. Sure, the interface is a little laggy, but I’ll be switching to CM9 as soon as it is out of alpha which should clear most of that up.
I don’t watch many videos on the tablet, but those that I have playback just fine, but it likely helps that I specifically transcoded them for optimised playback on the device.
little known fact: ALL ANDROID TABLETS ARE DOING SHIT.
i love android. been a fan from the beginning. but they need to get their shit together tablet wise. hardware specs is shit when they barely do much software implementation.
Had you posted links or stats you’d be worth reading.
well, collectively they took apple from 98% of the market last year to 56% so far this year. hate to say it but you are wrong in your assertion.
Yes, but that is counting $100 tablets. For higth end tablets alone the numbers will be different.
Technohead95: An SD card is the main reason I switched from iOS to Android (beside the USB host and HDMI). I wonder why so many manufacturers refuse adding these slots to their devices. I own Toshiba THRiVE with full USB, full SD and full HDMI and I can’t complain. I also can’t tell Tegra 2 is rubbish for video playback.
I’m buying the new galaxy note 10.1 as soon as it lunch, this is the best tablet so far
while all tablets are big phones, i was waiting for a tablet that serves all designers and artists , the HTC flyer concept was great but the size and the pen aren’t, galaxy not took it to the next level ..
No user will look at an Android Tablet and say “This is what this Tablet does” To the user it’s a giant mess. Take Samsung for example so many Tabs. Who can keep up. The user simply falls back to a choice they can identify. The innovations and Android offerings is astounding. But the Eco-system is an absolute embarrassment.
This geeky one up manship is asinine and juvenile. This leaves devices in a product line unsupported, and displays a lack of care for the user. I dare any Android fan to deny Android’s Achilles heel is lack support from the day of purchase to the end of that tedious two yr contract. (yes I know there are different/off contract phones)
As a staunch Android fan I will not be recommending Android device over another device platform. Quite frankly, whom ever give the most support on their platform will get my vote. (Will never mention the fruit-based juggernauts)
Fragmentation is not an issue. One only has to look at the success of the Galaxy S 2 to see that almost a year after release, Android can produce a best seller. So this can also be done in the Tablet Market.
You Sir are a gentleman and a scholar.
I tip my cap to you!
:D
I want Asus MeMo 379T, all other android tablets are not worth the price!
Google has set up a positive development environment with ICS and its style guide. Although the app list is small right now, everyone knows there is great growth potential and many developers are already familiar with how to code it or already have an app that just needs to be tweaked. Asus’s products, although initially taking away from Samsung sales, should help open up the Android market to everyone’s eventual benefit.
Message to Samsung: Get rid of TouchWiz! I have a GT 10.1 and an Asus Transformer. The Transformever is fast with the new ICS update. My GT is slow and laggy. Stop trying to put your own customization on Android. Leave it alone!
As it stands right now. Samsung tablets are not worth the price and I like Samsung. Asus is doing a great job of competing with features and price. Samsung thinks they gonna sell with name alone.
all android tablets are in the red right now. so stfu and buy samsung ^_^
Apple’s success in the endless delays is showing, but beyond that, it’s all about the pricing, which Samsung hasn’t figured out yet. Granted they are far ahead of Motorola in the pricing department, they need to re-evaluate the Kindle Fire and upcoming Asus MeMo tablets price points. As much as I enjoy my Samsung products, Asus will be getting my future business as far as tablets go.
good strat too. They can use that against Apple. “Look judge, our numbers show we’re not doing so well so we aren’t a real threat to Apple.”
I have a Galaxy Tab 10.1 Wifi, and am happy with it since I bought it refurbished. I would NEVER have paid the full price for this tablet. IMHO, Android Tablets need to have a MicroSD slot, at least 1 full sized USB port for Memory Sticks and or input devices, and 1 Micro USB port for charging/syncing/MHL on the tablet itself without using a dongle. The ports should be all on one side (preferably the top or left hand side when in landscape mode).
A swappable battery would be nice, but not needed.
they need to drop the price 100-150 bucks then sells might pick up. I got a Acer a100 for under 200 bucks 8gb but did a switch so the sd card is internal so its now a 32gb tablet for under 250 with tegra2 not to bad not to mention my 99 dollar TP running ICS
why the fuck does samsung need to release a 7.7 and a 7.0 seriously.
Didn’t you read, man? OPTIONS!!! I’m sure Sammy has done a focus group and discovered that many people 7.0 isn’t big enough, but 8.0 is too big, whereas many others really liked the 7.0. Makes total sense to… no one.
I can’t believe .7 in even matters to people. Ridiculous in my opinion
Samsung best selling point for Galaxy phones is the AMOLED screen, so while Samsung don’t use AMOLED in Tablets they will not have a big advantage to other Android tablets.
Imo all tablets aren’t worth the price, they’re only a bigger version of phones and are only now able to play games available on first generation consoles like the Sega Genesis. Until they get on par with the Xbox and PS3 I’ll hold onto my money.
if you want to do it right follow this:
1.drop the price to a competitive price, not same as the ipad.
2.Have an sd slot available for all tabs.
3.take a step ahead by releasing the products first in the united states.(apple does release their products in north america first, and desperate people will want to buy a new product, not a modified version 5-6 months later).
4.get rid of the laggy touchwiz, makes your tablet beautifully slow!
5.release updates of the os or bug fixes immediately. (samsung you are famous for not releasing updates in a sense of urgency)
Android tablets are all over the place in terms of quality, specs, and prices. You can get a android tablet for 79.99 @ Walgreens with Android 2.1 or a XOOM for 699.99 w/ Android 3.2. Ipad is more expensive but it works well and the OS is optimized for apps. Samsung does offer a good mix of price points and the Galaxy Note is a game changer.