5 Potential iPad Killers

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Samsung's Galaxy is about to expand.

Late Thursday evening, at a posh midtown Manhattan gala, the Korean tech firm is expected to launch its Galaxy Tab device, a thin tablet computer aimed squarely at Apple's(AAPL) iPad.

"[Samsung has] a strong position in handsets and emerging smartphone design," said Joel Achramowicz, senior vice president of research at investment bank Blaylock Robert Van. "It's certainly emerging competition for the iPad and Apple."

While catching the iPad will be a huge feat for any computer maker -- research firm iSuppli said the iPad will account for 74.1% of global tablet shipments this year, a number not expected to drop much in 2011 -- Samsung's Galaxy Tab ushers in a new era of potentially daunting iPad competitors, many of which will be powered by Google's(GOOG) Android operating system.

"I think we will see a number of products that will draw demand from Apple," Achramowicz told TheStreet.

Tablets are expected soon from almost all of the big PC and handset makers, including Hewlett-Packard(HPQ), Motorola(MOT), Nokia(NOK) and even Asus, whose two Windows 7-based Eee Pads reportedly go on sale early next year.

Read on for an update on the biggest tablet launches expected in the next few months.