more than one in 10 Galaxy owners returned their tablet within the first month — and the rate of return appears to be climbing.
The touchscreen tablet was launched in September, and went on sale in November to positive reviews. Smaller and lighter than its main rival, Apple’s iPad, the Galaxy boasted a number of features the iPad doesn’t have: namely, two cameras, and the ability to work with Flash (meaning you’ll have no problem watching videos on it). It runs on Google’s Android, which is now the most popular smartphone OS. And it appeared to sell well (to retailers, at least).
But that doesn’t mean consumers liked it, according to ITG Investment Research. The Wall Street firm tracked Galaxy sales at just less than 6,000 wireless stores in the U.S., and found that 13% of all purchasers returned their tablets through December.
By January 15, the rate had risen to 16% — meaning the Galaxy was a fairly unsuccessful holiday gift. By contrast, the return rate of iPads at Verizon stores was just 2%.
That could have something to do with the fact that Google didn’t design the version of Android that Galaxy runs — 2.2, or Froyo — for tablets. Motorola Xoom, the first tablet to run Android’s tablet-friendly Honeycomb OS (which was previewed last week), launches February 17. It already has at least one rave review. (Check out our preview video here.)
In the meantime, it looks like iPad owners have one more reason to feel smug.
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