[3GScottishUser]

Some news about the new Galaxy Tab 8.9 including spy shots available at the link below.

http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Samsung_Galaxy_Tab_89_Photos_Revealed/551-114865-615.html

Samsung will be making launch annoucments today (22/01/2011)

[Ben]

Ah, a smaller, thinner, lighter effort from Samsung - that was quick!

[gorilla]

I think this might actually be ok - but that all depends on the price. It has to be less than £400. If this is £300 I will buy it instead of the iPad 2.
I'll also want to root it and put stock honeycomb on it :-)
Android is a pretty good OS these days, better than iOS IMO, but the hardware is behind Apple.

[Ben]

I wouldn't go as far as saying the whole OS is better, but Android does have some nice elements.

I wonder how long Samsung have been developing this... I thought it'd take longer for designs that are more akin to iPad 2, and less about trying to cram in every piece of hardware under the sun to seem 'competitive', to appear.

[3GScottishUser]

Just announced. Retail prices for the Galaxy 8.9 in the US Market will be £286 ($469) for the 16GB version and £348 ($569) for the 32GB Version.

http://www.itproportal.com/2011/03/23/samsung-delivers-more-details-galaxy-tab-89/

[gorilla]

Are those exchange rate conversions or UK prices announced by Samsung? I suspect we'll see it only undercut the UK iPad prices by £50 or so. I don't think this is aggressive enough for the tab to have iPad like impact in the tablet market. Yes it will sell, but for me it's too close to the pricing of the iPad to really sell in huge volume.
It's a pity, as I do like it.

[Hands0n]

Samsung have completely blown it in my personal opinion. I read yesterday that they have developed their own "skin" to go over the stock Android Honeycomb and so have taken away that "Google experience" completely.

Now some might question what I am so bothered about. For me, it is the fact that having skinned the Android OS the device OS future is inexorably locked to the whims of Samsung who have a history of not keeping up with the later releases of Android. They seem to think that people will purchase later hardware to accompany the new releases of the OS. Something that I am wholly against.

My purchase of an Android tablet computer will be based upon the OS being plain vanilla Android Honeycomb as Google intended it to be. I refuse to support the fragmentation of Android by the various manufacturers, particularly Samsung given their history. And I would strongly suggest that people considering an Android tablet take the time and trouble to find out about these matter before parting with cash.

Which then brings me to the expected prices of this kit. It is simply outrageous that the new tablet manufacturers think that they can charge premium prices over and above those charged by Apple for the iPad 2. Android tablets are still some way off the iPad 2 in terms of design and build, liquidity of apps and ecosystem. Perhaps the closest entrant is likely to be HP with their new WebOS devices that have yet to see the light of day and prove themselves in the wild.

So, let us see no silly pricing or the Android makers will force the buying public towards the iPad 2 and will live to regret their pricing decisions.

[3GScottishUser]

Being £50 cheaper than Apple for the tablet is not just a small saving when you take into account the in-built 3G facility.

Comparing like with like the saving is probably in the region of £100-150.

As far as tablets are concerned Apple have adopted a different strategy to date. They are the market leader and are using their clout to put price pressure on others to retain share. Good news for all in comparison with their Laptop and Desktop PC strategy where they are up to 300% more expensive than comparable Windows computers and rely on brand loyalty, premium product appeal and perceived 'ease of use' to capture less than 10% of the global market.

I think Apple have woken up and smelt the coffee this time and their experience with iPhone has probably taught them that they can't retain a significant share by being too far away from others offering similar products. Good call for Apple as the iPhone and iPad have brought their computing products into the hands of many more users who just might be impressed enough to invest in other Apple kit.

The market will get tougher for Apple in terms of Tablets as Chineese and Taiwaneese companies start to replicate the spec of their offerings and thanks to Google they all have a very capable OS to offer on hardware tailored for tablets.

I suspect by Christmas 2011 there will be a decent range of tablets on offer and prices will have fallen to less than Netbook prices.

By the end of 2012 Apple will be like IBM probably when the clone makers made the PC market impossible for them. The tablet will be around and Appple will have a share but they will be the 'premium' product with the label that Apple customers will pay dearly for, meanwhile Samsung, Hauwei, HTC, ZTE and others will be flodding the market with very capable tablets that will do everything the iPad does at a fraction of the cost.

[Hands0n]

Good news for all in comparison with their Laptop and Desktop PC strategy where they are up to 300% more expensive than comparable Windows computers

I call timeout :) That is so patently not true where the word "comparable" is applied. Samsung have recently brought out their version of the Macbook Air which has a price that significantly higher than the Air. Yet the device is covered in plastic as opposed to the superior construction of the Air itself.

If you ask me whether I would like plastic or aluminium casings the latter gets my vote every single time.

Citation: http://www.pcworld.com/article/222385/samsungs_macbook_air_challenger_ready_to_ship.html

[Ben]

[WRT Apple Mac] less than 10% of the global market.
True, there are several computer manufacturers with a higher market share, but none with such a limited range of products. I know it's all lies, damned lies, and statistics to a degree, but for Apple to have such share with the meagre offering it has is, in my eyes, actually a massive sign of the success of its computer range.

If you include tablet sales as 'computers' then Apple is currently the global No. 3 (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1086158). If you look at companies like Dell and Lenovo at that link you'll see that their shares put things into perspective nicely.

I do think that Apple will face stiff competition in the tablet space, just as it is now in smartphones. However, if they continue along the road they've been travelling for many years now they'll likely continue to outpace the market, just like they do in mainstream computers to this day, even if other manufacturers end up growing even faster. Apple has never been about being the biggest. What they're consistently doing these days, however, is being the best - even if that does come at a price.