Galaxy Tablet Release Fuels Samsung-Apple Rivalry

Samsung Electronics has timed the unveiling of its Galaxy Tab tablet PC in Korea for Thursday to coincide with the debut of Apple’s MacBook Air laptop.

This is only another in a series of clashes between Samsung and Apple. Samsung, in conjunction with Google and SK Telecom, unveiled the Galaxy S on June 8 as the iPhone 4 was unveiled in the U.S. On Sept. 10, as the iPhone 4 debuted in Korea, Samsung introduced the Galaxy S Pink for women.

Samsung’s latest move is seen as an effort to head off Apple’s impending iPad launch in Korea. Apple has begun nibbling at Samsung’s commanding share of the Korean PC market with a 1.1 percent share in 2009. Samsung has a 37.5 percent share but is concerned about the “iPhone effect” seen elsewhere in the world. The iPhone’s popularity boosted Apple’s global PC sales 27 percent in 2009.

In Korea Apple sold only 3,900 PCs in the first quarter of last year and boosted it to 13,228 in the second quarter of this year after it sold 1.3 million iPhones there. It seeks to tap the same iPhone effect for its new MacBook Air.

The elbowing hasn’t been all one-sided. Apple began moving into Samsung’s turf with the release of the Apple TV set-top box in September. Samsung responded with a thinner, lighter laptop on Oct. 14. Samsung’s Galaxy Player 50, to be unveiled for the holidays, will challenge Apple in the portable media player market.