Following the release of the iPad Air 2 tablet, there has been constant competition among rival companies to bring forward their own tablet offerings to unseat Apple from the top of the "thinnest tablet" makers.
Samsung has been largely known as one of the tech giants that have stepped up to meet the challenge and come up with a similar device that will be impeccably slim and lightweight.
Current speculations have been pointing towards the South Korean company's efforts in developing the Galaxy Tab S2, which may claim the title from the iPad Air as the "thinnest tablet ever."
Previous reports indicated that this upcoming Galaxy Tab S2 will come with two display options, an 8-inch and a 9.7-inch model. Such measurements closely follow the tablet's predecessor, which is currently available in 8.4-inch and 10.5-inch variants.
Furthermore, the Galaxy Tab S2 is expected to come with a slim metal frame and will be thinner compared to the iPad Air 2 that measures 6.1 mm thick. Apple's ultra-thin tablet is even slimmer compared to its newest smartphones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which comes at 6.9mm and 7.1mm respectively.
However, there have been no exact details to how thin the upcoming Galaxy Tab S2 will be.
Although the notion of slim mobile devices is tempting, there are unfavorable consequences along the way. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 models, for instance, were claimed by its users to be easily bent. Following such reports, Apple stated that majority of these claims on bending were not true.
As for Samsung's upcoming devices, speculations on a thinner-than-iPad Galaxy Tab S2 also come with reports that the company will be introducing two budget-friendly tablets- the Galaxy Tab A and Galaxy Tab A plus. These will come with 8-inch and 9.7-inch displays, respectively.
Such devices will offer a display resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels and are likely to support LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity.
If Samsung pushes through with a tablet that is thinner than the iPad Air 2, this may also come as a challenge for Dell which has released the Venue 8 that is almost as slim and sleek as Apple's offering.
With all these tablet reports, industry analysts have been discussing that the demand for such devices may decline in the next few months. This is due to the expanding range of portable and convenient devices that are offering similar functions and features, including smartphones, phablets, tablets and laptops, which may bring confusion to consumers.
Moreover, less expensive options that offer features that are of good quality have become increasingly popular as compared to high-end tablets such as the iPad Air 2, which comes with a starting price of $499 and may reach up to almost $900 depending on storage options.
According to Tech Times, a recent report from IDC indicates that tablet sales are still waning even as its prices are dropping. Despite a tablet market growth last year, the growth rate was slow.
On the other hand, phablets that typically measure between 5.5 and 7 inches in terms of screen size are expected to beat tablet offerings this year.
