Samsung yesterday rolled out a teaser video of its upcoming tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which will be unveiled in Berlin, Germany, on Sept 2.
While Samsung gives no details on price or a release date, the video teases such functionality as full Web browsing, augmented reality, video calling, Swype text entry and HD movie playback. The Tab will pack a 7-inch touchscreen and come running Android 2.2 (Froyo).
Samsung would join Dell, and the 5-inch Dell Streak, as the next major OEM to challenge the iPad's current dominance of the United States tablet market.
According to a report released today from iSuppli, the late comers to the tablet space may be playing catch up for some time. iSuppli said that even as more contenders like the Streak and the Tab roll out before the end of the year, the iPad is unlikely to face a viable competitor until 2011.
iSuppli projects that the iPad will account for 74.1 percent of global tablet shipments in 2010, with the remaining 25.9 percent consisting of a mix of older PC-type tablet products and competitive slates. Despite the arrival of the first real iPad competitors in 2011, Apple still will maintain a prevailing 70.4 percent share of shipments, iPad research from iSuppli bears out.
Even in 2012, iSuppli shows the iPad controlling nearly two-thirds of shipments, at 61.7 percent, as the competition strives to develop ecosystems of tablet apps and content that can match up with those of Apple.
Rhoda Alexander, director of monitor research at iSuppli, said in the report that while tremendous resources across the industry have been devoted to toppling the iPad's success, it's going to take time for the rest of the pack to get their products to market.
"Companies are quickly developing products that match or exceed some of the surface hardware specifications of the Apple iPad," Alexander wrote, "but it's still unlikely that any of the competitors will be able to equal the overall performance experience of the iPad."
Alexander notes that Apple's complete integration of hardware, software, operating system and applications is a major piece of what makes the device a standout. She concludes that there is no current rival to Apple's integrated hardware/software design in the near future.