Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469

Summary: Samsung has given its Galaxy Tab 8.9 an official price point. You probably won't like it.

By Ricardo Bilton for The ToyBox | September 19, 2011 -- 10:10 GMT (03:10 PDT)

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If you were ever curious as to why Android tablets have had such a hard time making any consumer headway, moves like the most recent one from Samsung should give you a pretty good idea.

Samsung is finally pricing the WiFi version of the upcoming Galaxy Tab 8.9 --and it's not exactly pretty. The 16GB version of the tablet will sell for $469, while the 32GB version will run for $569. Interested in picking one up? We didn't think so. With a screen size smaller than that of the iPad, Samsung's asking price for its 8.9-inch tablet is a hair short of absurd. We can only imagine what the official 3G pricing is going to look like.

Topics: Tablets, Hardware, Laptops, Mobility, Networking, Samsung, Wi-Fi

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35 comments

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Wow

I'm shocked. Yet another iPad competitor who doesn't understand that people don't want to buy a not-iPad for an iPad price. Really. Totally suprised. I never saw it coming.

Yet another failure for another tablet company to remotely understand the market it is participating in.

samalie
19 September, 2011 10:30

Reply Vote
- they need to make a profit from it
 
 @samalie
 so the price is the price.
 
 Or should they pull an HP TouchPad kind of thing?
 
 William Farrell
 19 September, 2011 10:36
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @William Farrell - You don't make a profit if the gadget doesn't sell, which it won't at that price point.
 
 terry flores
 19 September, 2011 11:03
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @William Farrell Nobody cares how much it costs to make or turn a profit. They want it to be worth their money or they just won't buy.
 
 kingcobra23
 19 September, 2011 11:06
 
 Reply Vote
 - This is why every tablet other than iPad will fail
 
 @William Farrell
 Price it high enough to make a profit? No one buys it. You lose money.
 
 Price it low enough to sell? The price per unit is below what it costs to build each unit. You lose money.
 
 You can't sell a tablet at the same price as the iPad because Apple will not license access to the iTunes ecosystem (nor are they obligated to unless they are found to be a monopoly, something that hasn't happened yet). Also, Apple has sewn up the supply chain so that tablet makers are not able to buy parts at anything close to what Apple can. Apple's $500 iPad costs about $300 to make. That exact same tablet would cost anyone else about $450.
 
 No one is able to compete with Apple, no matter how hard they may try, no matter how much consumers say they want a choice.
 
 It makes no sense for a consumer to buy a tablet that costs the same as an iPad but has no access to any decent ecosystem.
 
 Consumers have spoken. Be careful what we wish for because we just got it.
 
 It is a sick market.
 
 We all lose.
 
 toddybottom
 19 September, 2011 11:46
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @William Farrell
 The price is the price...and what they haven't figured out is that nobody wants to pay iPad prices for an iPad knockoff.
 
 It doesn't matter if they make money or lose money on a per-sale basis. They are challenging the market leader, offering nothing "better" than the competition, and charging the same price as the competition.
 
 I'm just a lowly computer geek, and even I realize that the above is a failure of a formula.
 
 Look at the Android phones vs the iPhone. They started to win against the iPhone based on price. Then word of mouth spread, some makers did premium quality devices and Android flourishes today.
 
 Now look at Android vs iPad. They're not better. They're not faster. They have fewer apps. And they cost the same as an iPad.
 
 Is it any wonder that Android is failing huge in the tablet space?
 
 samalie
 19 September, 2011 12:20
 
 Reply Vote
 - @toddybottom: No more sick than when MS ruled the desktop.
 
 You got a choice of one low quality OS. Period. The hardware differed only by whose faux front and name tag was on it.
 
 Or a single search engine with viable results. When a single company can put a company under by simply having a companies competition declare it "closed".
 
 Bruizer
 19 September, 2011 12:35
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @toddybottom Actually that supply chain assumption is wrong. You know who, other than Apple, has the whole production/suppy chain to leverage? Samsung They're not just yet another OEM, they are *THE* supply chain. There aren't any OEM, no even Apple, have the ability to design their own CPU/SoC, LCD, and produces them. And that's why it shakes Apple to it's heart and so afraid of them. I don't think Samsung priced at premium because they can't. They priced at iPad because they actually try to market themselve with iPad. I don't know you but for non-Apple fans, they're not seeing iPad as only premium option now simply because there are a awful lot of Android's phone out there. Chances are whoever not having an iPad yet, which probably already have an iPhone, they are most likely having an Android phone rather than an iPhone and much more likely to buy an Android tablet than iPad given the equal chance of explosure. Now all these banning lawsuits started to make sense?
 
 Samic
 19 September, 2011 13:12
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @William Farrell
 
 That's kind of the point. All these Android tablet OEMs are falling all over themselves to say "Look! Me too!" while they're ignoring the fact that the tablet market is completely different than the smart phone market. Just showing up doesn't cut it when it comes to the tablet market. Without getting into an argument over which is better, Apple is the clear leader. All things being equal, there's little incentive for the consumer to go with the underdog for about the same price.
 
 piousmonk
 19 September, 2011 13:51
 
 Reply Vote
 - Bruizer: not sure what your point was
 
 other than to reiterate my point. It is never a good thing when consumers lack choice. With Windows, it was because consumers and businesses universally preferred Windows over 2nd rate solutions like MacOS and Linux. With iPad, it is because consumers and businesses universally prefer iPad over 2nd rate solutions like Android.
 
 Both were sick markets.
 
 We all lost in both cases.
 
 toddybottom
 19 September, 2011 14:02
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @William Farrell Actually, they need to make a decision before producing the device, take the hit for producing something that doesn't sell or cut the cost/profit to where they do sell units and make money. Nobody is in business to lose money but they also aren't in business to produce something that won't sell, or at least shouldn't be.
 
 non-biased
 23 September, 2011 07:31
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @Samic Could you please explain that rambling?
 
 non-biased
 23 September, 2011 07:53
 
 Reply Vote
- RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @samalie
 
 If the Galaxy Tab is such a big failure why is Apple is full panic mode filing lawsuits everywhere to get it banned?
 
 Doctor Demento
 19 September, 2011 10:44
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @Doctor Demento One thing about Apple, they look ahead to the future. Those lawsuits will basically help lock up the market for YEARS. They aren't worried about the devices on the market today, but they are protecting themselves for the long term.
 
 terry flores
 19 September, 2011 11:05
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @Doctor Demento Maybe Apple is not in full panic mode like you're suggesting and is instead suing to stop the blatant cloning. Why is protecting one's IP/designs unique to just Apple? If Apple sues it must mean they're in panic mode? It's being reported that the Galaxy Tab 7" sold just 20,000 out of 1m shipped in 2010. Apple sold 20 million in 2010 and will probably see 50 million by the end of 2011. They are not worrying about Samsung sales.
 
 dave95.
 19 September, 2011 11:30
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @terry flores
 
 So in other words, Apple is trying to stifle competition in the future by filing lawsuits today?
 
 Samic
 19 September, 2011 13:27
 
 Reply Vote
- RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @samalie - I 100% agree.
 
 datasp
 20 September, 2011 03:22
 
 Reply Vote
- RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @samalie Except that the Galaxy Tab (new ones) have specs that FAR outweigh those of the iPad 2, a screen resolution that is better, 2MP and 3MP camera instead of a 0.3MP camera only (iPad 2) couple that with the fact that the 8.9 inch version has got a microSD card reader to expand the memory (and makes it easier to transfer data) It also has a 1.2Ghz Dual core Processor against the iPad 2's 0.9Ghz Dual Core Processor.
 
 Personally, considering those specs I would say it is you that fails to understand the specs of devices coming into the market you are commenting in. Personally the microSD reader alone gives the Galaxy a MASSIVE advantage over the iPad (either of them) and the full Flash 10.2 capability adds a much richer user experience :)
 
 dosftw
 21 September, 2011 06:25
 
 Reply Vote
 - RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
 
 @dosftw All you have done by posting is prove that you, just like Apple's competition, do not get it. The average consumer, the ones buying iPads by the tens of millions, don't care about the spec sheet. They are not buying the iPad because it out specs the competition, they are buying it because they prefer the overall experience of it. They don't care about the SD card slot, which there is an adapter for the iPad, or the fact that the Galaxy is 0.3Ghz faster. And flash, that's the last resort talking point that makes me laugh. It's obvious by sales figures that they couldn't care less and unfortunately neither you or Apple's competition seem to be able to grasp this very simple concept.
 
 non-biased
 23 September, 2011 08:06
 
 Reply Vote
RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469

I would have to see the thing first hand, the form factor might be more to my liking.

slickjim
19 September, 2011 10:35

Reply Vote