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Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469

By | September 19, 2011, 10:10am PDT

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

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.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Wi-Fi, Tablets, Wireless LANs, Notebooks, Hardware, Notebooks & Tablets, Wireless And Mobility, Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications.

Disclosure

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton has no investments that may conflict with his work with ZDNet. Similarly, he has not worked with any companies that he may write about in his technology coverage.

Biography

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications. He lives in New York, and is a graduate of Amherst College.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
non-biased 23rd Sep
@fkieser HP sold like crazy but that doesn't matter because they lost their a$$ at that price. Apple could sell the iPad at a loss as well but that isn't good business is it.
View in thread
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Wow
samalie 19th Sep
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.
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they need to make a profit from it
William Farrell 19th Sep
@samalie
so the price is the price.

Or should they pull an HP TouchPad kind of thing?
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
terry flores 19th Sep
@William Farrell - You don't make a profit if the gadget doesn't sell, which it won't at that price point.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
kingcobra23 19th Sep
@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.
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This is why every tablet other than iPad will fail
toddybottom 19th Sep
@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.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
samalie 19th Sep
@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?
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@toddybottom: No more sick than when MS ruled the desktop.
Bruizer 19th Sep
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".
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
Samic Updated - 19th Sep
@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?
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
piousmonk 19th Sep
@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.
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Bruizer: not sure what your point was
toddybottom 19th Sep
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.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
non-biased 23rd Sep
@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.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
non-biased 23rd Sep
@Samic Could you please explain that rambling?
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
Doctor Demento 19th Sep
@samalie

If the Galaxy Tab is such a big failure why is Apple is full panic mode filing lawsuits everywhere to get it banned?
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
terry flores 19th Sep
@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.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
dave95. Updated - 19th Sep
@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.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
Samic 19th Sep
@terry flores

So in other words, Apple is trying to stifle competition in the future by filing lawsuits today?
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
datasp 20th Sep
@samalie - I 100% agree.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
dosftw 21st Sep
@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 happy
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
non-biased Updated - 23rd Sep
@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.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
Peter Perry 19th Sep
I would have to see the thing first hand, the form factor might be more to my liking.
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Did Samsung merge with HP while I wasn'y looking?
terry flores 19th Sep
Truly dumb move, didn't they learn anything?
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
Bates_ 19th Sep
I give this tab 3 weeks before it's 100$ cheaper.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
Badgered 19th Sep
Samsung has given its Galaxy Tab 8.9 an official price point. You probably won???t like it.

Why do they even bother?
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
dhmccoy 19th Sep
This is perfectly captures why these tablets don't sell. iPad lets you use multiple apps at once. Millions of people do this every day. And please don't go into "true" ie, third party multitasking. The existing use cases of iPad covers 95% of what people want to do. Almost no one is asking to ssh into their tablets.

Resize widgets? Well, that clearly has people clamoring for a $500 device. So they can have a larger stock ticker.

Truly awful.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
bethere@... 19th Sep
I have an Android phone. Love it. I have (by accident) an Android tablet. Hate it. I now have an iPad. Worth every premium penny I paid for it. In the tablet world, iPad wins and everyone else loses. (Not an Apple junkie nor a PC snob. I use PCs and Macs. So it's not loyalty, it's just reality).
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
ajrmd 19th Sep
I'm sorry but something doesn't compute. Does Samsung really want to sell any of these things? As others have observed, why would anyone want to pay Apple prices for a non-Apple (and in this case) an inferior product?
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Cheapo, No-Name Brands Seem To Do This Better
ldo17 19th Sep
Surveys indicate Android tablets have already grabbed 20% of the market. Clearly the ones that are selling aren't the high-profile failures from HP, Motorola and the like; it's smaller brands from China and the like that no-one has ever heard of, selling a few here, and a few there. That's where the Android tablet wave is coming from.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
non-biased 23rd Sep
@ldo17 They are selling but are the helping or hurting Android? From the posts I have read here and the couple of people that I know that have bought the cheap Chinese options the experience was not good. Sure it was cheap but if the experience is bad the average consumer is going to blame it on Android, not the cheap junk they bought. That in the long run could hurt sales of quality Android tablets as they won't give it another chance with the higher end purchase.
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You pay more for same/better specs & more portable
taki2 20th Sep
The 8.9" tab is as powerful as the 10.1" (same resolution) & 30% more pixels than iFad2.
The same reason that BMW (smaller) is more $s than Toyota.
Look at gsmarena.com & compare.
There will be an LTE version...
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
redhaven Updated - 20th Sep
@taki2 Most of the posters above will never understand and will happily go about shelling out too much money for Apple products convinced that whatever Steve Jobs says is right.

8.9 inches is a better size for some people. This device is also almost 5 ounces (~20%) lighter than iPad 2.

I will concede that Honeycomb is not as Stable as iOS but that is only because iOS is severely hobbled.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
Bates_ 20th Sep
@taki2 Um, are you really comparing a BMW to a Toyota? German performance and luxury to Japanese efficiency and practicality, 2 different classes my friend. Might as well compare a Honda Civic to a Pagani Zonda.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
RonGuys Updated - 20th Sep
great offer,I just got a $ 829.99 iP??d2 for only $ 103.37 and my mom got a $ 1498.99 HDTV for only $ 251.92, they are both coming with USPS tomorrow. I would be an id!ot to ever pay full ret??il pr??c??s at plac??s like W??lm??rt or B??stbuy. I sold a 37" HDTV to my boss for $ 600 that I only paid $ 78.24 for. I use http://goo.gl/jltwR
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
dsf3g 20th Sep
The problem that Samsung and all small tablet manufacturers face is this: consumers see a small tablet and expect that it will cost substantially less than a big tablet. But when you look at the guts and the innards you realize that only two things differentiate small tablets from large tablets: screen size and component placement.

The smaller screen size probably lowers the cost of manufacturing the tablet by a small amount. But the smaller size means higher component density and complications arising from spacelimitations. And that probably drives manufacturing costs up, not down. In the end, it wouldn't surprise me if the 8.9" Galaxy tab costs Samsung about the same to manufacture as the 10.1" Galaxy tab. And yet, consumers are probably expecting the smaller tablet to retail for at least $100.00 less than its larger sibling. So it's a very tough sale, to say the least.
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
fkieser 20th Sep
Anyone know how the $199.00 Galaxy Tab has done on the market? If it has sold well it would be the answer to the cost issue. Charge less and sell more or charge more and sell less? HP sold like crazy at this price point so somebody needs to be paying attention!!
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RE: Samsung to price Galaxy Tab 8.9 WiFi starting at $469
non-biased 23rd Sep
@fkieser HP sold like crazy but that doesn't matter because they lost their a$$ at that price. Apple could sell the iPad at a loss as well but that isn't good business is it.

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