Local Samsung phone boss, Tyler McGee, has taken a swipe at Steve Jobs’ comments about 7″ tablets similar to the new Samsung Galaxy S, claiming that the pressure of pending competition must be getting to the Apple CEO.
Apple boss Steve Jobs poured scorn on potential iPad competitors like the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Tab and Research In Motion’s PlayBook – predicting their small screen size, dictated by problems with scaling up the Android 2.2 OS, would see most of them “dead on arrival”.
“As you know we have a very low share in the phone market – single digits if you count all the handsets – and a high share in tablets because we were the first movers,” he told analysts and media in a conference call.
“But that’s not how we think about it. The reason we don’t make a seven-inch tablet isn’t cost, but because seven inches isn’t big enough for the software people want to put on them.
“Given that tablet users will have a smartphone in their pocket, there’s no point in giving up screen size. Seven-inch tablets are tweeners – too big to be a phone, and too small to compete with the iPad.
“The proof of this will be in our competitors’ pricing, and that’s why we think the current crop of seven-inch tablets will be DOA. Sounds like lots of fun ahead.”
According to McGee, the launch of the Galaxy S Tablet is still on schedule for November in the Australian market.
“We believe that we have a great product and that the 7” size is a highly practical device that easily fits into a pocket. I read Steve Jobs comments, the pressure of competition must be getting to him as we anticipate selling a lot of these products.
