Samsung’s Galaxy Tab has been touted by that manufacturer as the holder of second place in the tablet category, even as Apple occupies an overwhelming market share. But, post-iPad 2, Samsung’s position is looking a bit shaky.
For one thing, Samsung’s implied claims of sales, which positioned it in second place, are coming into question. Late last year, the company said it had sold one million units, and, in January, upped that to two million. Those numbers would have meant that it had sold to about 20 percent of the tablet market. But it wasn’t clear if those were units shipped to distributors (and possibly still sitting on the shelves as inventory), or if the numbers represented actual sales to customers.
Sell-In Versus Sell Out
In late January, comments during an analysts’ call by a Samsung vice president, Lee Young-hee, raised questions about how large the sell-through to actual customers was.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Lee said that the “sell-in” to distributors “was quite aggressive,” and the “sell-out” to customers was “quite smooth.” Then she added: “So, therefore, even though sell-out wasn’t as fast as we expected, we still believe sell-out was quite OK.”
But Samsung has declined to provide specific numbers. Lee said that Samsung needs “to see how the market develops before we give any firm numbers.” To further complicate perceptions of Samsung’s success, another Samsung executive noted last week that, to compete with Apple’s new and thinner tablet model, “inadequate parts” in the Tab had to be improved. This led to reports that the company was considering delaying the launch of its 10.1-inch model, which it has since denied.
In addition, two comparisons are back in Apple’s favor. The iPad 2 is the thinnest tablet on the market, and the Galaxy Tab 7-inch model, the only version of the product…