Samsung disputes high Galaxy Tab return rates

But questions are raised over exactly how many tablets have been sold
Khidr Suleman

Samsung has hit back at claims that its Android-basedGalaxyTabhas seen a 15 per cent return rate in the US, but questions remain about exactly how many tablets the firm has shipped.

A report from ITGInvestmentResearchsaid that Galaxy Tab return rates are 16 per cent, compared to just two per cent for theiPad. However, Samsung has acted swiftly to dismiss the claims.

"The return rate of the Galaxy Tab in the US as claimed by an American market research firm is incorrect. According to Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business the return rate is below two per cent," the firm said in a statement.

V3.co.ukcontacted Samsung, but the manufacturer was unable to provide any details surrounding returns in the UK at this time.

Meanwhile, doubts were raised about sales of the Galaxy Tab during an analyst conference call when Lee Young-hee, a vice president at Samsung, was misquoted as saying that tablet sales were "quite slow".

Lee had actually said that sales were "quite smooth", but remained cagey when questioned about the exact number of shipments to distributors, known as 'sell-in', and actual sales to customers, known as 'sell-out'.

"As you heard, our sell-in was quite aggressive and this first quarterly result was quite, you know, fourth-quarter unit [figure] was around two million. Then, in terms of sell-out, we also believe it was quite smooth," Lee said during the call.

"We believe, as the introduction of new device, it was required to have consumersinvestin the device. So therefore, even though sell-out wasn't as fast as we expected, we still believe sell-out was quite OK."

Samsung is "quite optimistic" about 2011 sales, according to Lee, who stopped sort of providing any targets.

"As you know, the tablet is relatively new and we need to see how the market develops before we give any firm numbers," she said.

Samsung claims to have sold two million Galaxy Tabs since the launch at the end of last year.

The company's Galaxy S smartphone has shipped 10 million units to date, helpingSamsung to post record revenues.

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