Samsung Galaxy Tab Has 15% Return Rate

According to tech analyst firm ITG, 15% of consumers who've purchased the Samsung Galaxy Tab from a U.S. carrier have returned it.The picture regarding sales of Samsung's Galaxy Tab has gotten muddier. First the company crowed about sales of one million, then two million tablets. Then, speaking to press, a Samsung exec let slip that actual sales to end users were "quite slow." Those huge sales numbers were really shipments from Samsung to retailers, not to end users.

ITG states that in the two-month period between November 16 and January 16, the Galaxy Tab was returned by consumers at a rate of 15%. "Consumers aren't in love with the device," said Tony Berkman, a consumer tech analyst with ITG.

By way of comparison, the Apple iPad was returned at a rate of 2% during the same period.

ITG didn't point out specific reasons for the Tab's high return rate, but it is easy to estimate what they might be.

First, Android 2.2 Froyo is not optimized for the tablet form factor. Even Google said this last fall before the Tab's debut. Froyo was designed for smartphones.

Second, Google announced Android 3.0 Honeycomb -- which is optimized for tablets -- in early December. Any Tab user only partially satisfied with the user interface immediately had a reason to return it, knowing that a more capable system was on the way.

Third, Motorola announced its Xoom tablet in early January at the CES trade show, giving Tab owners another Android tablet option -- one that will support 4G, one that will have a bigger screen, one that has dual-core processors, and one that supports Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

Google is prepared to fully unveil Android 3.0 Honeycomb at an event taking place at its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters on Wednesday, February 3.