Lenovo Snipes At Samsung Galaxy Tablet Sales

A Lenovo executive claims rival Android-tablet maker Samsung sold just 20,000 of the 1million Galaxy Tabs shipped last year.

Andrew Barrow, director of consumer products and pricing for Lenovo Western Europe said the Korean firm had tried and failed to “buy share” from Apple, reports the Guardian today.

He is reported to have said that Samsung shipped a million tablets into the channel but only sold 20,000, making a huge loss but establishing itself as a major Android manufacturer.

Talking at the IFA exhibition in Berlins, Barrow apparently offered no evidence to support his claim and Samsung jealously guards actual sales figures for its tablet range. Samsung had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

But, in December last year, it was forced to clarify the difference between shipping and selling a million tablets after it was widely mis-reported as having sold a million tablets. It then had to admit to lower than expected tablet sales in an earnings call in January.

Surprisingly low

Despite this, mobile analyst Rob Bamforth from Quocirca told the Guardian he would still be surprised if sales were as low as 20,000.

“It’s certainly plausible that sales into the channel are going to be significantly higher than sales out. The question is by how much, and that does sound like an awful lot,” he said.

Lenovo launched its second Android tablet last Thursday, the IdeaPad K1 (pictured), which will arrive in mid-September starting at £349.

Barrow told the Guardian: “We don’t feel the need to buy share from Apple. If the product sells, it sells.” Adding that Lenovo will be tentative with its first run of tablets.

When launched the Galaxy Tab was hailed as a potential challenger to Apple’s iPad, something it has not quite lived up to despite several new versions and updates.

The flagship Galaxy Tab 10.1 is currently the subject of a number of Apple lawsuits for patent infringement and is banned in Germany and Australia pending further legal proceedings.

After initiating procedings in the US, Apple is proving relentless in its pursuit of Samsung around the world and another injunction secured in Germany on Friday forced the Korean manufacturer to remove it newest tablet, the Galaxy 7.7, from display at IFA.