Samsung is predicting it will sell one million Galaxy Tab Android tablets and 20 million Galaxy S smartphones in 2010, adding that more tablets are on the way. Meanwhile, comScore says Samsung has become the leading U.S. handset maker, and iSuppli reveals that the Galaxy Tab parts cost a mere $205.22 — almost $60 less than those of the market-leading iPad.

Samsung predicts it will sell more than one million Galaxy Tab (pictured) Android tablets and 20 million of its Galaxy S smartphones by the end of 2010, according to online reports.

In addition, the company plans to introduce additional tablet form factors into the marketplace, seeking to press its rivalry with the Apple iPad while blunting competition from other Android-based tablet manufacturers.

"Various tablet sizes will be launched by many companies next year," J.K. Shin, president of Samsung's mobile business, reportedly told the audience during a Nov. 4 press conference in Seoul. "In order to cement our strong presence in the tablet market, Samsung is preparing other kinds of tablet devices."

In a bid to eat into the iPad's market share, Samsung will debut the Galaxy Tab with multiple carrier partners. T-Mobile, Verizon, U.S. Cellular, AT&T, and Sprint will all offer data plans for the seven-inch tablet in the United States. On top of that, Samsung hopes, the device's 3G connectivity, video conferencing, Android 2.2, and support for Adobe Flash will help differentiate it from Apple's offering.

comScore: Americans love Samsung phones

According to the Dow Jones Newswire, Shin also suggested that Samsung will ship 20 million Android-based Galaxy S (pictured below, left) phones this year, and will double shipments to 40 million in 2011. (This prediction appears to include many different Galaxy S variants based on the original, including AT&T's Samsung Captivate and Verizon's Samsung Fascinate. )

The prediction for strong Galaxy S sales is backed up in part by a comScore smartphone report released this week, saying that Americans use Samsung handsets more than any others.

Among other findings in the comScore report, which summed up the U.S. smartphone market at the end of September, BlackBerry maker RIM's OS share dropped over the summer, from 40.1 to 37.3 percent of the total 58.7 million smartphones in use during the period.

Apple iOS remained steady at 24.3 percent, followed by Android, which claimed 21.4 percent of the market, showing a market leading growth rate of 6.5 percent, says the study. Note that the study covers smartphones in use, as opposed to sales.

iSuppli: Galaxy Tab is "larger version" of Galaxy S

According to a recent teardown report from research firm iSuppli, the Galaxy Tab's parts cost $205.22, much less than the estimated $264.27 for the 16GB iPad with 3G.

"Instead of matching up the iPad on a feature-by-feature basis, the Galaxy Tab really is [a] larger version of Samsung's Galaxy S smartphone," Andrew Rassweiler, director, principal analyst and teardown services manager for iSuppli, wrote in a Nov. 1 statement. "While the design approach makes the Galaxy less expensive to produce than the iPad 3G, it also makes for a product that lacks the same usability."

Strategy Analytics: iPad owns 95.5 percent of tablet market

The Apple iPad held 95.5 percent of the worldwide market for tablets at the end of the third quarter, according to a recent report from research firm Strategy Analytics. This was said to be up from 94.3 percent the previous quarter.

Android-based tablets held 2.9 percent of that market, although major competitors such as the Galaxy Tab have yet to make their presence fully known.

"We expect Android's share to rise in the fourth quarter as more models … enter the market," states the Nov. 2 report from Strategy Analytics.

"The tablet wars are up and running," Neil Mawston, a director for Strategy Analytics, wrote in an accompanying statement. "Apple has quickly leveraged its famous brand, an extensive retail presence and user-friendly design to develop the tablet segment into a multi-billion-dollar global business. Android, Microsoft, MeeGo, WebOS, BlackBerry and other platforms are trailing in Apple's wake and they already have much ground to make up."

The general analyst consensus is that the tablet market will increase markedly over the next few years.

Availability

The Dow Jones Newswire item on Samsung's sales predictions for its Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S devices should be here.

Recent eWEEK updates on upcoming carrier availability of the Samsung Galaxy Tab may be found here (Sprint), here (Best Buy), here (T-Mobile), and here (U.S. Cellular).

This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.