Samsung responds: Galaxy Tab return rate below 2%

By | February 3, 2011, 6:11am PST

Summary: The saga of the Samsung Galaxy Tab sales numbers and return rate continues, with a Korean blog by Samsung stating that “the return rate is below 2 percent”.

The saga of the Samsung Galaxy Tab sales numbers and return rate continues, with a Korean blog by Samsung stating that “the return rate is below 2 percent“. This cryptic statement is attributed to the Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business, in response to analyst reports that the Galaxy Tab return rate is as high as 16 percent.

Samsung needs to get better communicators on staff, as it keeps creating problems of perception over how well the Galaxy Tab is doing in the market with its unclear statements. The company has come under fire for claiming that 2 million Galaxy Tabs have been sold, then back-pedaling when pressed admitting that these are in-channel sales to partners, not consumer sales.

With Apple expected to roll out the iPad 2 soon, it is important to understand how well competing tablets are doing in the market. Google is pushing the Honeycomb version of Android for upcoming tablets, and the confusion over how well the Galaxy Tab is doing in the market isn’t helping the case that Android tablets can give the iPad a decent run for the money.

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James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long.

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Biography

James Kendrick

James Kendrick has been using mobile devices since they weighed 30 pounds, and has been sharing his insights on mobile technology for almost that long. Prior to joining ZDNet, James was the Founding Editor of jkOnTheRun, a CNET Top 100 Tech Blog that was acquired by GigaOM in 2008 and is now part of that prestigious tech network. James' writing has appeared in many print publications: Smartphone and Pocket PC Magazine, Information Week and Laptop Magazine to name a few. James' coverage of the mobile technology sector has regularly appeared in the New York Times, Salon.com and CNN/ Fortune online. Not just a writer, James has filmed numerous video reviews and how-tos that have garnered well over a million viewers. He has appeared on local news segments and been interviewed by the Associated Press on mobile technology topics. Additionally, James has been podcasting about mobile technology for years.

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RE: Samsung responds: Galaxy Tab return rate below 2%
JACOBSONR 14th Oct
Good day to confirm this comment I would appreciate T h e b e s t o f Z D N e t d e l i v e r e d your website very nice to everyone Yes, Oracle is the only one with shared-disk architecture, but that is there advantage. It means you can add or remove nodes and the database lives on. In a shared nothing architecture, if you lose a node, you lose the system. I'm sure Oracle appreciates EMC highlighting their advantage.I also desire to signal in your RSS feeds. Thank you as soon as once again and maintain up the great operate Awesome post! Thank you very much || thanks for nice content this is really benefit to me.
One potential place for the disparity would be whether or not returning a device for free within the first 30 days of a new contract is counted. Some percentage of sales (though I'd doubt it to be 14% of them) could be people getting a Tab on contract as a trial run to see if they really have a use for a tablet at all.
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<2% may be for Samsung
FADS_z 3rd Feb 2011
16% percent for carriers and retailers. These devices are not defenctive, and will be re-saled.
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.. plain and simple. I'd be all over an android tablet if there was a proper cisco client for it. I've looked at the Galaxy, and the failure rate wouldn't hold me back. It's a nice device with limited usefulness.
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@croberts You do realise that Cisco VPN (or any VPN) support in a consumer device is kind of irrelevent, right? The target market here is "people who want a simple information consumption device to read email, surf the web and do lightweight productivity tasks", not enterprise users.
@TheWerewolf

Except that there are many "consumer device" users (that I know of anyway) that also like to access work resources when necessary, on their devices.

The Cisco support in the iPhone and iPad work well and I'm able to access the VPN's I need to when I'm out and need to get in to check on a problem, verify something, etc..

Why should I have to carry multiple devices ("consumer" and, what .. "enterprise"??) if its not required by my employer or clients whose networks I access?

Oh yeah, and I'm also able to VPN in to my home network via L2TP to gain access to my systems when I'm out. Not usually enterprise related in the least.
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RE: Samsung responds: Galaxy Tab return rate below 2%
ALISON SMOCK Updated - 7th Feb 2011
@TheWerewolf

I've used PureVPN while I was in China to circumvent the Great Firewall of China on my Nexus One while on 2.2 without any problems.

Not sure what you're talking about.
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@croberts Like TheWerewolf these are targeted at the average consumer. While I can understand why you want it and would find it to be a requirement I question calling them dogs due to the lack of support. Just as I have pointed out when Apple haters bash on iOS devices for one thing or another, these are not products that are targeted to tech savvy individuals. Because it doesn't fulfill every need you have doesn't detract from how good they are for their target market. Hopefully the support will come but it won't be an issue either way for the target market.
Same old Samsung why should they change now....Trust is hard to earn, Once trust is lost, so very much more cost to win back-if at all....Other phone companies have had their CEO fired recently and then they changed...hint-hint...
@heredavid
I tend to agree. I've only bought one Samsung device and they lost my trust. It was a monitor that was advertised as having HDMI input. I bought it and used DVI for a few months before then trying to change to HDMI, only then to find-out, in the the fine-print in the manual in the box, that the HDMI input would not work from computers; only from other devices. The bold lettering on the box about HDMI input was, to put it mildly, highly deceitful. Once bitten, twice shy. Samsung also claimed to have sold 1 million Bada devices in the first four weeks of release. I tend to wonder about the truthfulness of that statement, too!
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Don't believe the Apple fanboys
charbax@... 3rd Feb 2011
Lots of blogs are totally biased towards Apple, so they will publish complete BS FUD stories against Android devices, and that gets repeated by other blogs and so on, there is not much Samsung PR can do to prevent these types of Apple fanboy attacks.

The fact is Android 2.2 tablets are BETTER than iPad1 on iOS 4.2, and Honeycomb is tons times even better as the smartphone software platform is then for the first time truly Tablet optimized.
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Contributr
@charbax@... I am very happy with my Galaxy Tab, evidenced by many posts on this blog.
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@charbax@... is further evidence of Apple fanboism...

Face facts Android is not perfect. As for Android 2.2 being better than iOS 4 on tablets that is purely subjective.
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@athynz


I agree with you. Different devices will suit different people and their needs.

Google has stated that Android version before Honeycomb are not suited to tablets. So, any commentary on the Android not being as good as iOS would seem to be well-placed and fair - and consistent with Google own thoughts on the matter!

Hang-on, because Google has stated that Android versions 1.x and 2.x are not suitable for tablets, that means that Google is critical of Android. And, of course, as we all know, anyone critical of Android is an Apple fanboy. So, that means that Google is an Apple fanboy. Wow!
@charbax@...
Come off it. You'd have us believe that "all" blogs are from Apple lovers that are anti PC and Android. That's rather naive, if not churlish.
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There's more bias agaisnt Apple
iPad-awan Updated - 3rd Feb 2011
The truth is there are more blogs that are bias against Apple. Most people in the media loves Google and will say anything to place them in a good light even when it's false. I'm sorry to say it but there's a lot of lazy journalist out there. Look what happen when Google lied about Bing and the media (without fact checking) printed complete BS FUD against M$. I can bet that Google has something up its skeeves against Apple when Honeycomb comes out. Google simply cannot complete on an even playing field.
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@iPad-awan

Right, and we should trust your opinion on this matter with an alias such as yours, right?
@charbax@...

There is bias for and against any type of device. You are showing it yourself by stating how great Honeycomb. How can you say something is great before you have any reviews of real world use or first hand experience. You are speaking from ignorance and there is no quicker way to get you opinion dismissed.

I have used the iPad OS and Android 2.2 and can state from experience that the iPad is plain and simple a better experience. It is well refined and does what it promises. Android has some catching up to do and is not near as smooth and refined.
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@Kabcock

Except Android's more up front about your privacy. Do yourself a favour and see if you can dig up how to stop sharing your GPS location with APL and partners (yes, you're still sharing it with them even though you might be using something completely irrelevant to them, say, Facebook Places). Do it without searching for it, and I'll bet you anything you can't find where the option is, nor where you agreed to the location sharing.

Additionally, most of Android's current issues can already be "fixed" or plain-and-simple be improved with apps on the market. The flashy 3D home screen slide effects and widget interactions are already available on 2.1 (maybe even 1.6) if you use a home screen replacement.

So, IMHO, Android's already ahead. More privacy, more types of apps, flashier homescreens, not needing to be supported by a desktop computer, etc.
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RE: Samsung responds: Galaxy Tab return rate below 2%
non-biased Updated - 10th Feb 2011
@ALISON SMOCK You have an obvious bias for Android that you can't seem to get around. You have to go to the extreme of privacy (laughable when comparing to something from Google by the way) to bash Apple to make your case. So Android is what you prefer and what works best for you, great I am happy for you and glad you can get what you want. Now it's time for you to realize that your bias does not apply to everyone else. If they prefer iOS but can see positives about both or at least acknowledge them they are not a Fanboy. Maybe you can open your mind a bit to realize there is something else out there and if somebody prefers that over your choice it has no affect on you. Once you come to this realization you will no longer be a Roid and probably become a happier person. Doesn't matter the topic being discussed, if you are closed minded enough to be a fanboy or a hater on that topic you basically make yourself completely irrelevant.

You are correct in the last part, those are you opinion for the most part but at least one is pretty much FUD. Care to backup the claim of more types of apps or that beyond activation you have to have the support of a computer to use an iOS device.
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What did Disraeli say?
daboochmeister 3rd Feb 2011
"Lies, damn lies, and statistics." If it weren't true, so many bloggers would be out of business.
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RE: Samsung responds: Galaxy Tab return rate below 2%
Shyam Madhavan Sarada Updated - 3rd Feb 2011
@daboochmeister "...And the truth shall set you free?" happy
I got my Galaxy Tab on December 23. By December 24th, I knew that the 30 day return period was meaningless because I had not desire to send it back. I picked up the iPad and it felt clunky to me because it was too big. The Tab has been perfect for me.
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Why their return rate with my business will be 0%
afficionado Updated - 3rd Feb 2011
Based on my experience with a Galaxy S - which is to say, Samsung's unwillingness or inability to deliver the long promised 2.2 update - I won't be buying one. My business' second android was an HTC (as will be the next three) and my first tablet was an iPad (as a direct result of the Froyo failure). The next tablet will be an iPad 2. Add it up Samsung. 0% returns because you are not getting any more of my business.
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Please a 16% return rate? Huh? 2% sounds right....and that is quite a lot. People would be screaming in every forum about unreliability if it were 16%. Secondly.. No one cares if it is consumer sales or sales to retailers. If the Retailers are buying them, they must be selling them....or they won't buy more. Since they are buying more... I am guessing some are being sold. Samsung can't report on other people's numbers, only the ones they have access to.

Quit beating them up for communications issues...when it is simply everyone trying to twist their sales figures into a negative.
@condelirios Both numbers could be 100% true.

After playing with both side by side, I can say that t he Galaxy X felt like a rushed out crap that was not only expensive, almost completely useless due to the lack of available apps.

The only thing the Galaxy can do OK is surf the web. That is a very expensive web browser.
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@condelirios Sales to retailers versus sales to customers does matter. It matters to Samsung, the retailer, the consumers and the developers. It matters to Samsung because if consumers aren't buying then the retailers won't be placing more orders. It matters to retailers because lack of sales means lose of money. It matters to consumers because sales level will determine future level of support. It matters to developers because there could be 10s of millions sold to retailers but unless consumers buy then there won't be a market for their apps. Channel versus consumers REALLY does matter. As far as retailer buying them means they are selling, not necessarily true. The retailers could have placed scheduled orders. Those shipments will continue regardless of if they are selling to consumers or not.
ITG reports are actually false. Check out what this third party analysts said. Samsung has a potential libel lawsuit on their hands.

http://m.examiner.com/exLosAngeles/pm_70705/contentdetail.htm;jsessionid=9CACA712AB778B94F2F2E7283EA96820?contentguid=oyQakjKP
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@ConceptVBS

Followed your link. Someone has their tin foil hat on a bit too tight.
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