Samsung Electronics, on March 23, announced two new sizes for its Galaxy Tab tablet PCs – an 8.9-inch model and a 10.1-inch model – and since Samsung has strong advantages in both global PC and telecom channels, market watchers believe the two new models should help Samsung achieve the lead in the non-iPad tablet PC market.

The 8.9-inch model is priced between US$469-569 depending on specifications, while the 10.1-inch model is about US$499-599. Since the 8.9-inch model is lighter and thinner than Apple's iPad 2, and cheaper comparing the Wi-Fi only models, the market watchers have started to pay attention to the machine's performance in the future.

In comment, Digitimes Research senior analyst Luke Lin pointed out that the expanding iPad market share does not necessary mean non-iPad tablet PCs will fail.

Lin used the example of the smartphone market and pointed out that iPhone also had strong sales performance in the past, but iPhone's success did not create a significant impact toward Android-based smartphones since these devices also saw strong sales growth.

Since tablet PCs a still at the initial period, still far from the competition period; therefore, Lin expects both iPad and Android-based tablet PCs will see strong sales growth in the future.

Samsung 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab tablet PC
Photo: Company