Samsung To Launch Rival To Apple's iPad

South Korean giant Samsung Electronics is poised to give a stiff competition to Apple’s much-touted iPad device by launching its own signature tablet computing device in the near future, Bloomberg has reported.

Dropping a hint about the company’s strategy for exploring the tablet computer market, J. K. Shin, president of mobile communications division at Samsung, said in a statement, “We will respond”.

He further went on to say that the iPad “will create a new market and new demand”, claiming that it is “too early” to provide more details on the company’s future plans.

The consumer electronics giant already offers the processor that runs the Apple’s iPhone, market research firm iSuppli Corp reported. This eventually puts Samsung in the position of being both a notable rival as well as a components supplier to Apple. 

Speaking about the likely competition, Shin said: “This is normal, we have to compete in the market. At the same time, they are our customer and we are the supplier of components to them”.

Additionally, analyst firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimated that Apple will sell a considerable six million iPads this year, whereas sales of mobile phones will reach a whopping one billion units and PC will be pegged at 300 million units at the end of this year.