Dear Samsung: Enough With the Tablet Teasers Already

By  |  Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 12:23 pm

Oh Samsung, you’re such a tease.

For a couple of weeks, you’ve been hinting at an 8.9 inch tablet, first with a press event invitation, and now with a YouTube video of some dimly-lit, stylized renderings. Just one problem: Nobody cares.

Admittedly, it was cool when you teased the original Galaxy Tab late last year. Back then, Apple’s iPad didn’t have any legitimate contenders. Even if the 7-inch tablet was a bit of a let-down — picture a steroided smartphone OS with a tablet app deficiency — you gave us something to talk about while we waited in line at the Apple Store.

These days, however, you’re not so unique. Plenty of Android Honeycomb tablets loom, and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 — or whatever it’ll be called — is just another brick in the wall. Why, your rival LG has been talking up its own 8.9-inch Android tablet for over a month. Also, don’t you have a 10.1-inch tablet to worry about?

So, what’s the real news behind all these teased-out, long-leaked, whisper-campaigned tablets? That none of them are actually available yet. I’m not saying every tablet maker needs to copy Apple’s thunder lizard approach, but you’ve got to admit that when Steve Jobs strides on stage and announces that the iPad 2 will be available to actual paying customers in seven days, it kinda makes the whole tablet striptease seem a bit played out.

And thus, some advice. Please, Samsung, show a little dignity. Dispense with the silly games. The press event for this 8.9-inch tablet is set for March 22 — less than a week from now. Just play it cool and let rumors and speculation do your dirty work. Bonus points if, when the announcement comes, you’re actually ready to ship.

(This post republished from Techland.)

 
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3 Comments For This Post

  1. Fred Says:

    Unfortunately, if Samsung wants to follow the Apple model, they need to follow it all the way. Quash any and all leaks with lawsuits. Fire employees that leak information. Have nosy journalists arrested. Then they can practice access journalism and get media attention just by announcing something and can be ready to ship on announcement day. If they're not ready to adopt Secrecy as a religion, the best way to stay ahead of the story is by talking about unannounced products themselves.

  2. jjroid Says:

    HAHA! YES!

  3. Paul Says:

    The ipad2 is out, so there are a bunch of potential customers thinking again about purchasing a tablet.

    Samsung has a new tablet arriving soon that if people were aware of, may choose to hold off on an ipad2 purchase to see what it is like.

    Samsung would have to be utterly stupid to not get these people interested pre-launch.