Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 tipped to make Android tablets important again

Samsung could be about to supercharge its Galaxy Tab line-up with a switch in hardware and that might shake-up the high-end Android tablet market.

Samsung has traditionally used Qualcomm for its premium tablets, with Exynos reserved for the more affordable models. Switching to MediaTek would therefore be a complete change of direction.

When it comes to the tablet market, Samsung is a huge player, although it sits in the shadow of Apple's iPad. The iPad claimed 36% market share globally in Q1 2024, but Samsung swings in with 20% according to Canalys data. That's not an insignificant number of tablets being sold by Samsung.

Some of this success comes down to Samsung's commitment to tablets – when many rivals backed away from the market, Samsung continued. The company has also put a lot of innovation into its devices, enabling multitasking before many others did. So Samsung's tablet story is pretty good, certainly a leading force in Android tablets.

According to information from tipster Universe Ice, Samsung has "confirmed" that the Galaxy Tab S10 series will use the MediaTek Dimensity 9300+. There was a suspicion that this might happen, as a benchmark score for an unknown Galaxy Tablet revealed this information in June.

This will be the first time that Samsung has used MediaTek hardware in its flagship tablet and the reason for the choice is likely to come down to cost. The Dimensity 9300+ is powerful hardware and it might be that Samsung can bring a performance boost to its tablets, without waiting for next-gen Qualcomm hardware, while keeping prices under control.

What do we know about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 series?

In truth, we don't know much about Samsung's future tablet plans. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series were launched in August 2023 with the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra sitting at the top of the family. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE followed in October.

According to the latest rumours, the Galaxy Tab S10 series might be announced in October 2024. That's a little later than the previous iteration, but that might fit in with using the latest Dimensity hardware that's available.

The design of the new Galaxy Tab S10 has leaked, giving us a look at the Tab S10 Ultra, which many talk about as a rival to the Apple iPad Pro – in thinness at least – measuring only 5.45mm thick.

The question is whether Samsung will bring any cost savings to the price of the tablets. Currently, the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra costs from £1,149, while the larger iPad Pro costs £1,299 – but the iPad is equipped with an Apple M4 processor, which would need Snapdragon X hardware to rival its performance.

Samsung's opportunity here is to bring that price down while continuing to offer a premium tablet – still with plenty of power – without breaking the bank.