Recently, a Groupon deal landed that brought the price of the Samsung Galaxy Tab down fully 54 percent off retail. This has led to a lot of discussion over the future of tablets, especially as the iPad Mini’s likely launch closes in.
The Groupon deal, which brought the price of a 10.1 inch Samsung Galaxy Tab down to just $279 and represented a 54 percent discount over retail, ended on September 7, but this still represents an enormous price drop. That’s not the only major bit of discounting going on, either, as a recent Google Shopping search uncovered a seven inch Galaxy Tab 2 prices starting at $249 even at major stores like Best Buy.
Admittedly, there are alternate explanations at work here. The Samsung Galaxy Tab in the Groupon offer, for example, was a refurbished model. The Best Buy Galaxy Tab 2, additionally, was a seven inch model. There could be some removal of old inventory going on, some clearing of the shelves at work to make room for new models. But there is an unsettling possibility here that Samsung may have an eye on the iPad Mini’s potential launch later this fall.
There’s no denying that Samsung has taken it on the chin at Apple’s hands more than once of late. Several legal battles between the two companies have transpired, and Samsung has not come out of these battles well. The most recent socked Samsung with a $1.051 billion judgment against them, and that isn’t easy for even a major company like Samsung to swallow. Is Samsung responding to a potential major sales ban by dropping prices to raise cash? Samsung is facing a potential sales ban on fully eight different models of product, from the Droid Charge to seven different Galaxy smartphones. That ban may actually go farther to include devices like the Galaxy S III and even the Galaxy Note. Additionally, that $1.051 billion judgment against Samsung could go up as much as three times under some circumstances.
Samsung needs cash, and it needs it quickly. But is that the motive behind recent plummeting prices? Or is there another reason afoot? Samsung likely sees what we all do, specifically, the upcoming release of Apple’s first small tablet, the so-called iPad Mini. But Samsung also likely sees the recent expansion of the Kindle line of tablets, and given the intense success of the Kindle Fire tablet, Samsung likely didn’t want to be left out in the cold. Amazon’s continued dominance in the small tablet market, and Apple’s likely entrance into it, are both solid potential vectors to explain Samsung’s recent price drops. With Black Friday and the start of the holiday shopping season rapidly approaching, it’s not a surprise to see manufacturers go for the throat to make sure their products are the ones bought, especially in a bad economy like this one.
But a good tablet alone will not spur a small business on to success. Cloud-based telephony features like click to call and call answering will help make sure those who want to get in touch with your small business can do so rapidly, simply, and effectively.
No one–at least no one outside of Samsung–knows why the recent price drops on the Samsung Galaxy Tab line are happening. But there are plenty of possible explanations, and the larger picture of mobile tech is providing some very intriguing possibilities in its own right.
Related keywords: Samsung, Apple, Cloud-based telephony, tablet