Tech
Samsung's Wi-Fi Galaxy Tab retail barrage starts: Price elasticity experiment begins
Samsung said Wednesday that its Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab will hit a wide range of retail stores by April 10 at $349.99. Carrier-free retail distribution may give this old iPad rival some more life.
Samsung said Wednesday that its Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab will hit a wide range of retail stores by April 10 at $349.99.
The move is notable on a few fronts:
- First, Samsung will garner more carrier free distribution that could boost market share.
- Rival tablets such as the Motorola Xoom have had limited success.
- The Galaxy Tab supports Adobe's Flash.
- And the price $349.99 may be right.
However, the Galaxy Tab's weaknesses are fairly well known. For starters, it has a 7-inch screen, which appeal to some but is often viewed as inferior to a 10-inch screen used by Apple's iPad.
The Galaxy Tab also runs the Android 2.2 operating system. A few months ago, this point would be viewed as a weakness, but given Android 3.0's problems with third party apps and crashes, it's possible that consumers will take the working OS over the newfangled one.
More than anything though, the Wi-Fi Galaxy Tab is really an exercise in price elasticity. At $349.99 the Galaxy Tab will get a few more looks. At $250, the Wi-Fi Galaxy Tab may do some damage. My guess is you'll see $250 sooner than later.