VietNamNet Bridge – Since last week, Vietnamese people can place orders for Galaxy Tabs on their website. However, though the new South Korean tablet computer has been advertised as the redoubtable rival of Apple iPad, Vietnamese interest in this product remains very low.

Prices sky high, quality low

Presenting itself before the public in September at IFA 2010 trade fair, Samsung Galaxy Tab caught the special attention from the public, because this was considered an Android tablet with the great potentials to become a redoubtable rival of Apple iPad. At that moment, at all high-tech forums, both domestic and foreign, analysts highly spoke of the “new star”, especially when they believed that the new star would have competitive prices if compared with iPad.

The day when Samsung Galaxy Tab appears on shelves is nearing and the retail price has been clearly quoted. The quoted price of 16 million dong is really high for Vietnamese buyers. The high price has been explained as fitting the “high class” of the product.

However, it seems that Vietnamese people remain indifferent to the new product. Quang Dung, an officer of a graphics company, said that in late September, he planned to buy an iPhone 4, but the price of the product was too high, while the supply was short. Therefore, he intended to buy a Galaxy Tab instead.

“However, after the manufacturer announced the official retail price, I have given up the intention. I need to wait to buy iPhone 4,” he said.

Previously, most people expected that the prices of Galaxy Tab would be much lower than the super product Apple iPad, at 8-12 million dong.

Hong Quan, an information technology officer, said that Galaxy Tab can only conquer the market if it has comparable price levels.

Phan Huy, a new university graduate, is wavering between iPad and Galaxy Tab. “It is clear that the price of Galaxy Tab is relatively high, but I have heard that the prices cover other associated parts. Now I think it would be better to buy a second hand product, because it will be much cheaper,” he said.

A lot of articles on telecom and IT magazines have pointed out that if comparing iPad and Galaxy Tab, the later will not be able to defeat iPad. Weak battery, unsuitable screen and poor applications are the biggest problems of Galaxy Tab. On TinhTe forum,, after discussing the characteristics of Galaxy Tab ,many members wrote that previously they thought Galaxy Tab was a “big star” but they have become disappointed.
In the latest news, Archos is planning to launch 10 inch table PC into Vietnam’s market with the expected price at below 10 million dong. The product does not have phone and digital camera, but it is really an attractive product because it can satisfy all the basic demands of a tablet.

Android phone wins, Android phone loses

The year 2010 is nearly coming to and end, and it is the right time for market survey firms to calculate the turnover of products

The reports show that eBook Kindle, Windows 7, iPad/iPhone and Android phone are among the best sellers in the sale season. However, in the same reports, Android Tablet has not been successful.

Statistics show that 80 percent of polled people say if they buy tablets, they will choose an iPad for the year-end season, while only three percent of people will choose Galaxy Tab. Meanwhile, 95 percent of the turnover of the tablet market is falling into the hands of Apple.

In a recent interview given to a press agency in Seoul, a senior executive of Samsung, Shin Jong-kyun, said that the manufacturer hopes to sell one million Galaxy Tabs from now until the end of the year.

Trung Anh