Samsung to roll out Galaxy Tab S4

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics unveiled its latest high-end tablet PC, the Galaxy Tab S4, Thursday claiming that it is a versatile 2-in-1 device that can be used as a laptop or tablet.

The tech giant said the Galaxy Tab S4 supports Samsung DeX that transforms the user experience into that of a desktop PC. The new tablet also comes with an S Pen, which people can use to jot down memos when the screen is off and send text messages through Samsung Live Message.

The 10.5-inch tablet uses a Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 Octa Core chipset. It has a 13-megapixel and 8-megapixel camera and comes with 4 GB of RAM and storage capacity options of 64 GB and 256 GB. It also has a 7,300 mAh battery that enables users to enjoy videos for 16 hours.

“With the Galaxy Tab S4, we're introducing a premium tablet, equipped with Samsung DeX that helps consumers perform their absolute best wherever they go,” Koh Dong-jin, president and CEO of Samsung Electronics said in a statement. “We look forward to providing our customers with a sense of leisure and comfort knowing that this new addition to our ecosystem of connected devices is also packed with features to help them stay entertained.”

Samsung also introduced a budget tablet, the Galaxy Tab A 10.5, the same day.

Samsung said the Galaxy Tab A 10.5 tablet has a unique feature “Kids Mode,” that allows parents to manage content on and use of the tablet. The Kids Mode features a kids-friendly browser and applications.

The budget tablet comes with an LCD display and is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 450 Octa Core chipset. It also comes with 3 GB of RAM and a storage capacity of 32 GB. It has an 8-megapixel camera and a 5-megapixel camera with flash.

Four speakers are built into each corner of the tablet and the battery size is 7,300 mAh. Samsung said the two tablets will be available globally this month.

Though the global tablet market is in stagnation, Samsung announced the new products as the tablet market seeks transition from the business-to-customer to business-to-business sector such as digital education.

According to data by research firm IDC, shipments of tablets have decreased falling to 163.5 million last year, down 6.5 percent from 174.9 million in 2016.

Samsung is the world's No.2 tablet maker with a market share of 15.2 percent, following Apple with 26.8 percent. Samsung shipped around 10 million tablets in the first half of the year.

The education sector is a source of demand in the tablet market. “Tablets are no longer the focus of the market, but have become low priced products, helping vendors increase market share,” Kou-Han Tseng, an analyst at TrendForce said. “But the education market has gained much attention recently.”