Is it a phone? Is it a tablet? Is it a joke? Well, the
Samsung Galaxy Note is only two out of the three, and its sales are no laughing matter. Unless you are Samsung, in which case you are laughing all the way to the bank.
Launched in India in November 2011, the Galaxy Note is a hybrid between a phone and a tablet, or a "phablet". It's been called a category defining product, carving a niche of its own in a crowded market.
The Galaxy Note features a a 5.3-inch HD Super AMOLED display with 1280x800 resolution. The device
originally released with Android Gingerbread 2.3 skinned with Samsung TouchWiz 4, but Samsung has since
rolled out the Ice Cream Sandwich update to Note users. The rear camera is 8-megapixels with with LED flash, capable of full HD 1080p recording. It has 16GB internal storage and a microSD slot thrown-in for good measure. (See:
Samsung Galaxy Note Review)
So how has the Samsung Galaxy Note been doing in India? As per a recent
survey, Samsung has sold 40,000 Galaxy Note units a month since the phone was launched in India in November last year. While that may not seem like a large number, it is quite a feat give the niche audience of the product.
India is in love with the Samsung Galaxy Note. We certainly see a lot of Galaxy Notes out in the wild, and continue to receive queries about the product. At Rs. 34,990 launch price (Rs. 32,990 at Samsung's online store as of date), the Galaxy Note was Samsung's most expensive phone in India until the
Galaxy S III marched in. But clearly, the price has been no hinderance to the Note's success.
The world seems to love the Galaxy Note even more, given that Samsung
clocked five million units sold way back in March, around five months after the phone's launch in October.
There's good news for Galaxy Note fans. Reports indicate Samsung is
getting ready to unveil the Galaxy Note II in August, with an October release date.