"Unclear?" The Changing Status of Tablet PCs, Samsung Also Keeps Pace and Advances

[Asia Economy Reporter Joeslgina] Just a few years ago, tablet PCs were considered ambiguous devices caught between smartphones and laptops, but their status has rapidly changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerating Samsung Electronics' moves. Targeting the surging demand for tablet PCs, Samsung is launching its first-ever Fan Edition (FE) model like its smartphones and lowering prices across series. By diversifying its budget product lineup, the company aims to expand customer inflow while countering Apple's iPad dominance.

◇Like Smartphones... Expanding Lineup ‘Cheaper and More Diverse’

According to industry sources on the 27th, Samsung Electronics will sequentially release its first FE tablet, the ‘Galaxy Tab S7 FE 5G,’ and a low-priced tablet in the 200,000 KRW range called the ‘Galaxy Tab A7 Lite (tentative name)’ starting next month. Similar to smartphones, Samsung is strengthening the mid-to-low price lineup simultaneously in the high-end S series and the budget A series.

The Galaxy Tab S7 FE, pre-released in the European market, is priced at 649 euros (approximately 893,000 KRW). While maintaining the 12.4-inch size, the specifications have been lowered, significantly reducing the price from the Galaxy Tab S7’s 1.1 to 1.3 million KRW range. The Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is also estimated to be priced in the low 200,000 KRW range, lower than the higher-end Galaxy Tab A7 released last year (330,000 KRW for the Wi-Fi model). An industry insider evaluated this as "a strategy to expand consumer choices across price ranges from flagship to budget markets by adding the Lite series."

Galaxy Tab S7 FE 5G

This strategy aligns with Samsung Electronics’ recent moves in the smartphone market. Earlier this year, Samsung priced its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S21, below 1 million KRW for the first time and held the first-ever A series Unpacked event to strengthen its mid-to-low price lineup. The release regions for the Galaxy M series, previously sold only in low-priced markets like India, have also expanded. This year, a detailed lineup has been established with the 100,000 KRW range Galaxy M12, 200,000 KRW range Galaxy A12, and 300,000 KRW range Galaxy A32 released consecutively.

This is intended to expand customer inflow by diversifying budget product lines. Considering that aggressive low-price competition from Chinese manufacturers in the smartphone market threatened Samsung’s market share, this move can also be interpreted as an early effort to check Chinese manufacturers in the tablet PC market. Currently, among the global top five tablet PC manufacturers, Huawei is the only Chinese company, and due to U.S. government restrictions, its market share has shrunk to single digits over the past year. An industry insider explained, "Differentiation from Apple, which mainly targets the relatively high-end market, is also being achieved."

Galaxy Tab A7 Lite (tentative name) expected image [Source: WinFuture]

◇‘Catch Apple’ Growing Tablet PC Market

Recently, the tablet PC market shows a different trend than a few years ago when it occupied an ambiguous position between smartphones and laptops. After COVID-19, with increased demand for remote work and online education and improved tablet performance, global tablet PC shipments grew 54% last year to 52.8 million units, and a similar trend continues this year.

However, the gap with Apple remains double-digit. According to market research firm IDC, Apple shipped 12.7 million units in the first quarter of this year, a 64.3% increase year-on-year, maintaining the No. 1 market share at 31.7%. Samsung Electronics also shipped 8 million units, up more than 60%, but its market share was 20.0%.

Apple has also taken the lead targeting the surge in demand after COVID-19. The 5G iPad Pro, unveiled last month, is the first iPad to feature Apple Silicon’s M1 chip, a proprietary semiconductor chip, significantly boosting performance. In South Korea, some models sold out immediately on open markets as soon as pre-orders began the day before the official launch.

IDC stated, "Although vaccines are being rolled out and work is normalizing, it will take time to return to previous work styles, so tablet PC demand will continue for the time being," and predicted, "Competition among major manufacturers in the tablet PC market will intensify."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.