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iPad 2 Forces Samsung To Reevaluate Galaxy Tab
An anonymous reader writes "Apple's iPad competitors are still spec-obsessed, and Apple's next-gen iPad coupled with the same price point is forcing Samsung to rethink its tablet strategy and pricing methodology altogether. The South Korean Yonhap News Agency relays a quote from Lee Don-joo, executive VP of Samsung's mobile division, about Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Tab 10.1 compared to the new iPad. 'We will have to improve the parts that are inadequate,' Don-joo said. 'Apple made it very thin.' Features aside, Samsung also finds itself in a bind price-wise. The upcoming Galaxy Tab model, complete with a 10.1-inch screen and Android 3.0, was initially going to be priced higher than the current 7-inch Galaxy Tab. Apple's iPad 2, however, is forcing Samsung to 'think that over.'"
This is awesome news. Competition is good for us!
how is Apple making the iPad so cheap? Nobody tries to go head to head with Apple. It's a waste of time. They're just too hip. So you fight on price or you fight on features. If the other tablet makers are neck & neck with Apple on price there must be a reason....
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So Apples new iPad 2 with the same size screen is the same price as the old one (with the same size screen) and Samsung's newer model with a much larger screen costs more so Samsung needs to think over pricing? Is their VP drinking the Apple Kool Aid? And seriously, does the skinnierness even matter? Sure, the rounded edge looks a helluva lot better than the old flat edge, but if it was the same thickness would anybody die? That new cover is very way cool though. All the 3rd party accessory guys must be going "thank god it isn't backwards compatible".
Apple runs it's own retail chain that is extremely cost effective (I believe they make the most $/square foot of any retailer). So while their competitors sell products wholesale and end up with two layers of markup (one for them and one for the retailer), Apple handles the marketing and retail aspect itself, and that's where they achieve their savings over the competition. Even the article you're responding to is free advertising for Apple, savings in action. So next time you're complaining about the free advertising Apple gets, keep in mind it's part of the reason you can buy an iPad for $500.
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It is amazing how the conversation changes. I remember a year ago, there was a lot of people dumping on the iPad as overpriced, that they could get a more powerful netbook for hundreds less.
Now today, it is all about how is Apple making them so inexpensive.
Strange...
http://mobilized.allthingsd.com/20110305/samsungs-10-inch-tablet-to-ship-as-announced-despite-apples-ipad-2-announcement/?mod=ATD_rss
“We will continue to make every effort to provide the most powerful, well-designed and productive mobile device to customers,” Executive Vice President Lee Don-Joo is quoted by Yonhap as saying.
A Samsung spokesman told the outlet the release plan for the Android-based Galaxy Tab 10.1 has not been affected, but declined to say when the device will ship.
but would you pay more to beta test it too?
The xoom is shipping with a broken sd card slot, no flash(other than the ads saying it has it) and if you want the full 4G modem your paying for you have to mail the unit it)
spending more for a crippled unit doesn't sound right. Apple should be doing that not everyone else.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Its' too little too late. Don't even try to compete on specs, or other bullshit...compete on price and targeted use. Get a $100 capacitive touch screen tablet that is little more than a portable web browser...watch how many you sell. I'll take 3 today. Hell, I'll sell my ipad and buy however many I can with the proceeds.
Yes, it is very easy actually.
1) They have huge quantities of scale. While other manufacturers are making 100's of models, Apple focuses on a few. Easier to get great prices on millions of the same part, then to get prices on thousands of different parts with retooling in between.
2) That huge cash reserve? They are using it to hedge prices. For example they are pre-purchasing key components so that the manufacturer does not have to add in risk costs for unknown future prices. They are also sharing the cost of new manufacturing facilities as part of a contract to get better prices. Hard to compete when you can't buy components because they have bought up half the supply, leaving everyone else to fight over the other half.
3) The entire company is ran very lean, probably the biggest lean manufacturing company in existence. Since all their effort is very focused, they do not have the overhead that most other companies their size have. Check out their R & D spending versus sales. Incredible.
For those that think they are running razor thin margins to get iPad hardware sales to make it up on the back side, you do not know Apple very well. They make healthy margins on everything they do. They have even hinted that they could drop the prices on iPads if they need to and still make a lot of profit. They are a public company, check it their filings.
The SD slot isn't broken, it is just problematic with the fast release of Android 3.0. It will be "fixed" pretty soon, I am sure.
Flash will be available in a few weeks according to pretty reliable sources.
In other words: Android 3 was released in beta state, with at least two important features missing: sd card reading and Flash.
Apple doesn't have Flash anyway, so that is a poor comparison point.
He did not compare Flash, he stated that it's a promoted feature that is missing at launch, making it feel like a Beta.
4G modem only matters on the overpriced non-WiFi-only model, which few people want.
If few want that model, then there is no Xoom for anyone else that cares since the wifi only model has not been released yet.
Not that I am defending Motorola... they pushed the product out a little too quickly. They were desperate to beat Apple's release of the iPad2. And they made it, but so what? Since they didn't release the WiFi-only version, which is what 90% (?) of prospective customers want, it is a hollow "victory". I just wouldn't characterize the Xoom as "crippled" like you did.
My theory, for the little it's worth, is that Motorola found out about the iPad 2 release date and rushed release of an unfinished unit in hopes launching before the iPad 2 was announced would help build momentum.
I would not call the Xoom crippled, but I xure call it a beta release. As for your note on people wanting the wifi mostly, perhaps if true that is likely due to price. As it stands, the 3G iPad outsells the wifi one, despite being 130 dollars more expensive. I'd say a portable tablet with constant connection appears to be in higher demand than a wifi only alternative.
The SD slot isn't broken, it is just problematic.
This parrot isn't dead, it's just pining for the fjords.
When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
I really, really wanted a Windows tablet five years ago, but the prices were way too high. Whatever your feelings about Apple, their ability to crank tablet prices down to a reasonable range has been a big boon for everyone wanting to buy the form factor. They may lead right now, but when suppliers catch up and can get parts to all manufacturers (in a year or two), we'll all be better off that this is no longer considered a luxurious exclusive of the high end like the Windows slates used to be.
But how do they do it? Jobs may be the PR showman, but Tim Cook is the Compaq-alumnus who is the real price magician.
Remember back in 2005 when Apple made a huge exclusive deal for 5 years of Flash RAM with Samsung? That was more than a year before they even introduced the iPhone, but Tim Cook locked up supplier deals people thought were insane at the time. Apple only makes Macs and iPods, what the heck are they going to use all that flash RAM for?
Apple now has a lot of cash on hand to get the best prices and to make exclusive deals like that, which they said they just did for three more critical parts in their last earnings report (and people are speculating over what those three parts are).
But finally, when suppliers aren't able to deliver on time, in quantity, and at a good price, they haven't been shy about pitting suppliers against each other.
Even with the cheapest supplies, might Apple be selling the iPad at a loss? At least for the 1st generation iPad, it's unlikely. Though Apple doesn't break out many numbers they show that iPad revenue over Christmas was almost equal to Mac revenue. Considering the larger sales of the iPad, more sold at a loss would be more loss, and that doesn't seem to have happened with their record profits over Christmas. Second, Phil Schiller last year said after the introduction but before it went on sale that Apple still had some pricing flexibility (meaning they could cut deals with big companies or bring the price down to the public, if no one bought it). Those two things together really suggest that this isn't a loss leader for Apple like the XBox was for Microsoft back in 2005. This may all change with iPad 2, but it doesn't really look like they added any expensive features to the (minor?) upgrade this time around.
With as many of the iPad parts coming from Samsung (including the A4 & A5 system-on-a-chip) you'd expect Samsung would be in the best position to make a real competitor. Apple's price advantage (though painful to competitors, right now) is short term. It's good that the market is getting competitive with low power, touch input, tablet supplies. And it will be even better for users when tablets in 2012 will be significantly better and maybe even cheaper from a variety of sources.
Just be patient, Samsung and the iPad competitors will be back soon with better products.
When the iPod came out, we had tons of competitors trying to develop an MP3 player that would match its grace and simplicity. Now, we're looking at the iPad 2 jump on the market, and everyone else is running around trying to build a better tablet that matches it grace and simplicity. We're all talking about price point, but Apple has already shown that price point isn't the real truth here.... it's about getting the user experience for the end user right, and Apple's found one that the also-rans can't quite meet up to. I'm no Apple fanboi, but I've seen this story play out before. Am I wrong?
Don't compete on specs -- compete on quality, usability, and features. You can slap all the hardware in the world into a sleek case and if it looks like crap and operates like crap, nobody's going to buy it.
Apple realizes this. Motorola and Samsung do not.
They look like toys compare to the iPad — very buggy toys. And none of them even compares to the iPad in the one feature at made me buy one: 10h battery life. And that's not even mentioning the touchscreen quality.
Ars Technica reviewed the Xoom and it came out sounding like another typical shipped to early product laden with buggy software. From crashing apps to an expensive tablet with many advertised features not working, one of which requires the owner to ship it back to Motorola to enable!
The market is not being helped by products like the Xoom nor Honeycomb being in the state it is. Instead of stealing the iPad2's thunder they emphasize how much more refined it is and come off instead looking like cheap knockoffs, without the cheap price.
As for their pricing, well if you can't beat the user experience of the iPad you damn well better stomp it in pricing. Which means putting models a full hundred bucks under the iPad in pricing with the same form factor. Don't let people compare them side by side and give them obvious reasons to stick with the iPad. That means a good STABLE interface and the same size.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
really where?
I will buy a wifi only version of the galaxy tab right now if some one can point it out to me.
The wifi only version of the xoom isn't out yet and is suspected of having to buy a 1 month period of 3G in order to get it functional.
I have asked this question many times and no one is willing to give me an answer. Where can it be bought?
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.