- Jul 9, 2010
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Droid Life has reported that the wifi-only Galaxy Tab will finally make an appearance by April 4, for $399, according to Samsung representatives at a technology fair yesterday.
In a separate report, Verizon has dropped the 2-year pricing of the Galaxy Tab down to $199 in the latest knee-jerk move in response to the launch of the iPad 2. IDC's figures on the high quantities of shipped Galaxy Tabs in 2010 Q4 may have something to do with the rather large Verizon price drop. Some may recall that it was only 4 months ago that the same device saw an introductory price of $599.99, meaning that the price dropped by an astonishing two-thirds of the original. This will surely cause a stir amongst existing owners and probably wont result in any warm-and-fuzzy feelings.
The Galaxy Tab boasts better video playback support than the Motorola Xoom and other Tegra 2 devices, which is a known limitation (see this, for instance). Android 3.0 is, by consensus, the best version of Android for tablets to date. However, it cannot be ignored that the 7-inch form factor combined with the lightweight plastic casing fitting in most pockets equates to much better portability compared to the 10-inch Xoom or iPad. The Galaxy Tab's screen quality is still one of the best ever. There has been much marketing hype about getting the latest version of Android and the most processing power out of a portable tablet device. If you are someone who is actually looking for a useful device, this is a fair price for a functional device, despite lacking an officially supported upgrade path to Android 3.0. Both Android 3.0 and dual-core devices are expected to be obsolete by the end of the year.
For everyone else, the price drops of the Galaxy Tab is a good sign for consumers, who can hope to see similar cases of adjusted pricing for previous-generation models that were previously sold at premium prices. Perhaps we may see a similar era of Android versus iOS as there was for the PC and Macintosh personal computers. Mass end-user Android tablet adoption can mean turning the tables on the Apple parade.
