Samsung admits iPad 2 will be tough to beat

A Samsung executive has admitted that beating the iPad 2's skinniness will be a challenge.

The new Apple fondleslab, priced to match the first-gen model, will also force the South Korean giant to rethink its pricing policy, Lee Don-joo, an executive VP at Samsung's mobile division told local news agency Yonhap.

"Apple made it very thin," he said.

Samsung's "10in [tablet] was to be priced higher than the 7in", he said, "but we will have to think that over."

The Tab is 12mm thick. The first iPad was only fractionally bigger - 13.4mm - and putting the two in your hand, you'd be hard pressed to notice a difference. The 10in Tab is 11mm But the iPad 2 will be 9mm front to back.

Samsung's 10in Galaxy Tab has yet to ship, but it was naturally expected to be pricier than the 7in model.

Amazon.co.uk has the list price of the tablet at £800, though that's being discounted to just £400 - a sign, perhaps, that the Android 2.2 tablet isn't as popular with punters as Samsung hoped it would be.

The 10in model is likely to list at more than £800. Discounts and mobile network operator subsidies will bring that down, of course, but the latter will help the 3G iPad 2 too. But the basic, Wi-Fi only iPad 2 will set the benchmark, and that's £429, with the original iPad now cut to £329. ®