Galaxy II maker is looking to reclaim the spotlight after Apple announced a stellar performance – on both iPad and iPhone sales.
The giant unveiled its Tab 10.1″ in its native South Korea on Wednesday, set to run on the latest Android 3.1 Honeycomb OS. The Android 3.0 Honeycomb version was unveiled to US consumers last month. It is also available in Indonesia, Italy and Sweden.
The skinniest (595g and 8.6mm thick) tab on the market, Galaxy 10.1″ packs a tougher punch specs wise with larger screen, higher resolution (1280×800 V iPad 2’s 1024×768) and higher megapix on its dual cameras.
“It is very thin… and weighs just as much as a cup of takeout coffee,” claims its maker.
And Samsung Mobile Communications president Shin Jong-kyun, also announced the release of its celebrated Galaxy S II smartphone to US market, flagged for next month although the precise date in August remains a mystery.
The device was released here in May last. This product announcements coincided with release of arch rival Apple financials on Tuesday (US time), which revealed a record breaking revenue of US$28.57 billion and net profit of US$7.31bn for the quarter ending June 25.
The Galaxy’s iOS rival sold 20.34 million iPhone handsets – a 142 percent unit growth compared to this time last year, smashing forecasts of 15 – 20m unit unit sales.
The iPad also gave a stunning performance at the tills – ringing up sales of 9.25 million units during the quarter, buoyed by the release earlier this year of iPad 2, which now has a cult following (a 183 percent unit increase).
President Shin said it expects to sell five times the number of Galaxy Tabs sold to date, which would imply an aim to sell 7.5 million devices this year, edging closer to iPad’s enviable figures.
And it will be expecting to kick start sales on home ground – the Galaxy S II released in Korea earlier this year was one of the fastest selling phones in the country’s history, so it will be hoping to replicate the smartphone’s success with the new Tab 10.1″.
Samsung previously said that sales target for mobiles this year is 300 million handsets, 60m of which is said to to be smartphones like the Galaxy S II. The giant has sold 3 million Galaxy S II to date, AP reports.
Samsung is to release earnings results for its most recent quarter on July 29, which many will be eagerly awaiting to see how the Korean maker fares against Apple.
