Verizon to offer Samsung Galaxy Tab

Less than a week after Verizon Wireless announced that it would begin selling the iPad on October 28, the company announced Wednesday that it will also be offering iPad’s rival, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, on November 11.  The tablet, which will run on Google’s Android 2.2 mobile OS (also known as “Froyo”), will retail for $599, $30 less than its iPad equivalent and $100 more than the basic WiFi-only iPad.

The data plan will include $20 a month for 1GB and will be contract-free, much like AT&T’s data plan, which offers 2GB for $25 a month.

The Tab features a 7-inch screen, which Steve Jobs ridiculed in his recent anti-Android tirade at Apple’s earnings call on Monday.  He called the tablets “dead on arrival” and insisted that the idea of a 7-inch tablet did not justify an upgrade from a smartphone.  Spoken like a man in fear for his livelihood.  No, that’s a total over-statement, but it does make you wonder: why would Jobs even bother to address the Android tablet unless he saw it as legitimate competition?  If it really is dead on arrival, who cares?

Perhaps the competition comes from a couple of key Tab features that have a leg-up on the iPad.  For one thing, the Galaxy Tab boasts 512MB of memory, which is twice that of the iPad.  Additionally, the Tab includes a rear-facing 3 megapixel camera with auto-focus and flash, as well as a front-facing 1.3 megapixel camera for video calls.  The iPad, on the other hand, has no cameras. 

Back in September, Samsung product executive Hankil Yoon told the Wall Street Journal that the company expects to sell 10 million units by the end of the third quarter of 2011, claiming a whole third of the tablet market.  Them’s fightin’ words.  By comparison, Apple sold three million iPad units in three months, according to the company’s third quarter earnings report.

Of course, at the time that Yoon estimated that 10 million units would sell by the fourth quarter of 2011, he also estimated that the tablet would retail for some $200 to $300.

Sprint will also carry the Galaxy Tab, but will likely offer a different pricing scheme.  Sprint is expected to offer the Galaxy Tab for $399 with a two-year contract and $599 without.

Starting next week, Verizon will begin carrying the iPad WiFi version, bundled with a Mifi mobile modem that users can tuck into their pockets or a carrying case designed to hold both the modem and the tablet.  The bundle will cost $630.