Samsung Galaxy Tab Return Rates Hit 16 Percent | AllThingsD

http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/20110201/16-percent-of-galaxy-tabs-are-returned/?mod=ATD_skybox

by stretchwithme • 15 years ago

36 31 15 years ago

digitaldaily.allthingsd.com

yequalsx3• 15 years ago

From my understanding Apple spent a lot of time getting the form factor right for the iPad. A lot of thought went into ensuring the OS was adequate for the device. None of Apple's competitors was expecting a marketplace for tablet devices like the iPad.

All of iPad's competitors right now are jokes. It's as if companies think it's the shape of the device matters more than the experience of using the device. I guess knowing this is the difference between creating a market and just trying to build devices for a market.

ThomPete• 15 years ago

Yes

In fact right before iPad came out most competitors had products in the pipeline.

The second they saw what the iPad was they all scraped it.

At least you gotta give them credit for that.

masklinn2• 15 years ago

Pretty much a remake of the Android/iPhone situation.

ergo984• 15 years ago

From my understanding Apple spent a lot of time getting the form factor right for the iPad. A lot of thought went into ensuring the OS was adequate for the device.

The device is too big and too heavy. The OS far from optimal for the device. That the Galaxy Tab is a pretty marginal device, with a slew of weaknesses, in no way validates anything that Apple has done with the iPad.

The iPad is a superior device to the tab. However I, and billions of other people, haven't opted to buy it. The market waits for something that fits our needs better.

It's as if companies think it's the shape of the device matters more than the experience of using the device. I guess knowing this

What does this even mean? It sounds like some sort of iPad-owner defensive reaction to a smaller tablet. Samsung couldn't suddenly make Android tablet-ready, but as above you're drawing the wrong conclusion.

A 7" tablet with a unoptimized OS does not invalidate a 7" tablet. A tablet with an unoptimized OS does not validate every facet of a tablet with a more appropriate OS.

As one aside, and to go slightly conspiratorial, the lack of decent Android competitors to the iPad falls largely on Google's shoulders. It strongly seems like Google was of mixed emotions about tablets, desperately wanting devices bigger than a smartphone to be owned by the ChromeOS project. They ignored the market, undermined the market, and only came around after lots of delays, all while ChromeOS slowly pushed its way into the light.

arethuza• 15 years ago

I honestly think the iPad size is spot on - a larger one would be too clumsy and a smaller one would sort of defeat the purpose of a device a bit.

It might be a bit on the heavy side (and I had to think about that) but I guess it is a trade off with battery size - and I'm pretty pleased with the battery life.

I'm not a particularly enthusiastic smartphone user (I have both a work iPhone and a personal Android phone) - I use the iPad far more than my phones.

yequalsx3• 15 years ago

The problem I have with your statements below

" However I, and billions of other people, haven't opted to buy it. The market waits for something that fits our needs better."

are that this could have been said of any object 9 months after its appearance. This could have been said about movies, TV, radio, cell phones, etc.

I think it's clear that there is a market for iPad like devices.

My statement about shape versus experience is that there are a slew of tablet devices that clearly have been rushed into production. I think companies are doing this because they want to say, "We're in the tablet market too." Samsung made a tablet for the sake of making a tablet. I don't think they put much thought into the device. They were more focused on having a device than on having a device with a good user experience. Apple spent a lot of development time before they released the iPad. This shows in their product.

There is nothing wrong with a 7" tablet. There is something wrong with a 7" tablet using an OS not designed for such a device. Android isn't tablet ready and people should not expect Android tablets to be as good as the iPad.

BTW I don't own an iPad. I never buy first generation hardware.

mhb• 15 years ago

iSchadenfreude

ugh• 15 years ago

It didn’t seem so bad when I tried it. As it stands nothing I would buy instead of an iPad but I couldn’t find any glaring flaws. Using it felt like using a smartphone with a somewhat larger screen, maybe not particularly optimized for its form factor but ok. I would be interested to know why people return it.

EnderMB• 15 years ago

As an owner of an original Samsung Galaxy (i7500) I can safely say that I'm not surprised. Samsung's approach to Android has been to quickly release poor-quality phones with broken firmware and little thought in regard to the actual user-experience.

If I'm honest, it shocks me that people still buy Android phones from Samsung. Nearly everything they've released for Android has been of poor quality, yet they sweep their old products under the rug and release something new and shiny for Android fanboys to gawk over. I cannot help but believe that the desire for a platform to come out on top suppresses much of the deserved criticism some Android phones face.

yardie2• 15 years ago

Unfortunate owner of i7500 here. What a nightmare that was. The only thing stopping me from getting a SGS is previous history with their product and the uncommitted upgrade answers from the VP.

I'll also never touch a Sony Ericsson for the same reason.

ZeroGravitas2• 15 years ago

They've published the audio and transcript from the Samsung official that apparently said sell-through was "quite small" and in reality they said "quite smooth".

yardie2• 15 years ago

apparently said sell-through...was "quite smooth"

What the hell does that even mean? When someone asks for a quantity you give them a number or an estimate of a number (big,average,small). When you want to describe squishy things then you can use smooth in the sentence (ie, the UI is smooth, workflow is smooth, this ice cream is smooth).

dagw• 15 years ago

What the hell does that even mean?

That sales, as a function, have derivatives of all orders?

lurch_mojoff• 15 years ago

More importantly, regardless of whether they said small or smooth, the fact that they didn't give a number or at least a ballpark number (e.g. 'more than 1.5 mil") for the sell-out is indicative of sales not being all that good.

roc• 15 years ago

When you have to back off your 'sales' number for being a 'shipped' number and then decline to specify your actual 'sales' number, 'small' is the implication; whether they said it or not.

ralphc• 15 years ago

I've had a Galaxy Tab since they first came out, and I use it just about daily, in bed, on the exercise bike, in a jacket pocket out to Starbucks. I think the size is perfect, and with only one exception (TMZ) the apps have scaled to the 1024 x 600 screen resolution. The big advantage of the Tab is that it's here and got good reviews. I waited just about all of 2010 for an Android tablet, the Adam, Joojoopad... and I'm skeptical of any Android tablet's ship dates. Maybe by the 2011 holiday season I'll have the choice of good quality Android tablets I thought I would have at the 2010 holiday season, but I'd have had use of the Tab for a year. My real complaint with it is this is my first experience with Verizon. I'm supposed to have a "month-to-month", no contract data plan, months I don't want 3G I just don't pay, but my account seems to be accumulating past due amounts? Any ideas?

daimyoyo• 15 years ago

There is one major reason why people are returning the GT. The iPad launched with an operating system (OS 3.2) that was designed specifically for it's form factor yet Samsung chose to launch their flagship device with regular, off the shelf Froyo. Perhaps the return rate will go down(and the huge number of unsold tabs will finally start moving) once Honeycomb finally premiers. I know that's what's holding me back from buying it. Imagine an iPad that could only run iPhone apps in that cheesy 2X mode. No thank you.

ergo984• 15 years ago

Android does natively support quite decent resizing, so it isn't quite as bad as the 2x mode.

While a slicker, more polished interface will do wonders, I do suspect that a lot of the returns right now are still network effect issues: People who get the Tab as a present and then wonder why they can't run all those cool apps that their iPad toting friends have, etc. I would expect that return rates are much higher than iPhone return rates on smartphones as well, for the same reason.

That is changing, of course. The app situation -- and the network inclusion -- is quickly improving.

The Tab only makes sense as a device significantly discounted below the iPad. That it is actually the more expensive option is just perverse.

ZeroGravitas2• 15 years ago

The Tab got some good reviews, some people comparing it favourably with the iPad. And they did rejigger some of the included apps for the bigger screen. Most of the negative chatter seems somewhat ideological, what with it apparently having the "wrong" size or "wrong" OS rather than any specific issues caused by these decisions. Even if this return rate applies across the globe they've sold more than I would have expected.

Since people repeatedly harp on the price, which has always been the same or less than the iPad+3G I'm guessing that the continued lack of a Wi-Fi only model is the real bone of contention (and/or the fact that tablets in general are too expensive for most folk, even/especially those who've already spent thousands on a slightly smaller, data-connected touchscreen slab that they carry as a phone).

I'm guessing the lack of Wi-Fi only was the (unforseen?) consequence of Google's restrictions on device capabilities which meant you needed a 3G radio and phone capabilities to get access to the Market. Google is supposed to have relaxed these and a Wi-Fi only model has been teased, though whether that will be eclipsed by the 2nd gen or not is a matter of timing.

mikecane• 15 years ago

I don't know what this statistic really means and I doubt anyone yet does. For years I've encountered people on the Net who think nothing of ordering the latest device just to "try" it and return it! They've stated so outright. So I wonder if this 16% does nothing but reflect those kind of people who make things miserable for everyone else who just want to buy?

srik12342• 15 years ago

Price is a deciding factor: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2379100,00.asp

If anyone is competing with iPad, they better price it appropriately. There is no reason for a typical consumer to choose a tablet that costs more than iPad, unless it provides a damn good experience that is beyond the iPad experience.

masklinn2• 15 years ago

Why would price be a deciding factor in the return rates, which happen after the buy decision has been made?

space-monkey• 15 years ago

I bought a Mac Mini and returned it last year. If it had cost 1/2 as much, I wouldn't have returned it. It just didn't do enough for me to justify the price. If something turns out to be worth less to you than (the return value - time and irritation cost of doing the return), you return it.

philjackson• 15 years ago

Because people have time to actually use it and decide what it's worth to them?

dlokshin• 15 years ago

What's the typical return rate on a consumer electronics product? Say a Garmin navigation system or something like that?

btipling• 15 years ago

I love my Galaxy Tab. I guess some of it might be because of Honey Comb.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Return Rates Hit 16 Percent | AllThingsD

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