By Kim Yoo-chul
Samsung Electronics will unveil its new OLED tablets at a Samsung Unpacked event in New York on June 12.
"Samsung will release OLED tablets with two screen sizes ― 8.4 and 10.5 inches ― at the event," said a source familiar with the plan.
Senior Samsung executives at its mobile division will attend the event. The company also plans to hold a press conference in New York about its updated mobile business strategies on June 10.
Samsung Display will provide OLED display technology for the premium tablets which outperform those using LCD displays in terms of picture quality and viewing experience, said Samsung officials.
Samsung officials said the company is preparing to launch new tablets featuring OLED screens "very soon." However, a company spokesman declined to comment on the place and date of the launching event.
The new OLED tablets will feature brilliant viewing quality and a fingerprint sensor.
Apple was the first to introduce a mobile device with a fingerprint sensor on the home button when the iPhone 5S debuted last year.
Samsung earlier introduced an OLED tablet with a 7.7-inch screen size two years ago. But the device failed to impress markets as Samsung failed to address picture quality issues.
Samsung is pushing to grow its tablet business as it believes it can beat its biggest smartphone rival Apple in the sector as it did in smartphones because it has the competitive edge in output commitment, pricing and on-time delivery.
Samsung is in talks with major U.S. mobile carriers including T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless to narrow terms of details about promotional campaigns and guaranteed shipment for sale.
The company's mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun was recently in the United States with Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong for business meetings with Cisco and Verizon.
Citing data from market research firms, another Samsung official said the gap with Apple in tablets has narrowed.
Strategy Analytics (SA), a Boston-based research firm, said Apple was still the leader in tablets with a global share of 28.9 percent, followed by Samsung with 22.6 percent at the end of March.
Samsung plans to promote budget tablets using LCD screens, while premium ones will go with OLED screens.
SA expects the Korean firm to ship 10 million OLED tablets this year, taking a 14-percent portion of the total estimated tablet shipments. Samsung plans to ship a total of 80 million tablets this year.