Samsung, It’s Your Move. Where’s Your Answer to the New iPad?
In both the smartphones and the tablets market, Samsung is the de facto leader of the Android pack. Moreover, if you count out Amazon, with its Kindle Fire (which does run on Android, but in a heavily modified form), Samsung is the only manufacturer holding up the flag for Android in the tablet market. ASUS is making an impact too, which is likely to be more significant when the MeMo 370T is upon us, but, for now, its market share is still in single-digit territory.
So, now, when the Apple hype machine is spewing up countless articles, analyses, and posts that proclaim the everlasting supremacy of the iPad 3 (ugh, I mean, the new iPad), it’s time for Samsung to stand up for Android and show the Apple crowd how it’s done.
And no, it’s not enough to come up with a side-by-side comparison or a snarky ad. We want a real competitor to the iPad 3, something like the elusive Galaxy Tab 11.6 in all its 4 million pixels glory. Where is your champion, oh Samsung?
The Galaxy Note 10.1-inch is Nice, but we Need Something Better (and Bigger)
We know, Samsung, you’ve got your nice Galaxy Note 10.1 out, which is a respectable effort, but not enough to beat the iPad 3. Not in the benchmarks, not in mindshare, and, probably, not in the stores. The problem is there isn’t anything spectacular about the Note 10.1 to catch the eye of the buyer. Yes, it’s got a pen, but how many customers are really interested in doodling or handwriting on their tablets?
The iPad 3, on the other side, has a couple of advantages that give it the upper hand over any other device in the high-end and mid-range tablet market. The first and most visible (pun intended) advantage is the “resolutionary” (again, pun intended, although, I am not sure about its quality) display of the iPad 3. All grudges aside, Apple really raised the bar with the 2048 x 1536 resolution of the new iPad. While the other specs, except perhaps the claimed graphic performance, are unimpressive, the ultra-high resolution screen of the iPad will both differentiate Apple’s slate from the competition and give Apple’s marketing machine the ultimate selling point.
So, whatever Samsung‘s got in store for Apple should at least match the impressive visual performance of the iPad. If only Samsung was the largest display manufacturer in the world… Oh, wait!
The Galaxy Tab 11.6 – More Resolutionary than the iPad?
If the rumors that circulated last winter are based on any truth, Samsung has a device on its hands that can stand by the iPad 3 without a shade of embarrassment. AndroidAndMe’s Taylor Wimberley claimed that he saw this fabled device at CES, in January, in a prototype stage. Corroborated with BGR’s previous reports sketching a tablet, Wimberley’s report led the blogosphere to believe that an 11.6-inch 2560×1600 resolution tablet was coming from Samsung at MWC.
MWC had passed with no news about the 11.6 Tab, so the next favorable occasion for a huge announcement seemed to be the SXSW festival, taking place these days in Austin, TX. Today, Samsung was supposed to reveal its ground-breaking new tablet. Again, disappointment; it’s only Angry Birds.
Regardless when Sammy will eventually announce its 2560 × 1600 supertablet, it’s important for Samsung to deliver a product that can match the iPad 3 and beat it at its own game. Released in a timely manner, a 2560 x 1600 resolution tablet would be devastating to Apple’s marketing efforts. But it’s all a matter of time. If customers have enough time to associate the iPad 3 with the impressive new retina display, Samsung will find it very difficult to gain mindshare when it eventually launches its own super-high-res tablet.
What do you think? Can Samsung deliver a real answer to the iPad 3 anytime soon? What would that answer be?
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