Samsung plans to sell more than one million of its iPad-rival, the Galaxy Tab, by the end of the year.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab was made available in the U.K. this week and will ship in the U.S. next week; it is the company's first tablet PC.

"I estimate we will be able to sell more than a million units worldwide by the end of this year," Samsung's president of mobile business, JK Shin, said.

The 7-inch device runs Froyo, version 2.2 of Google's Android operating system, and is powered by a 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird ARM-based processor.

The Galaxy Tab also includes 16GB of built-in memory, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, and front- and back-facing cameras.

"You can literally use it by holding it in one hand or put it into the inside pocket of your suit," Shin said.

Tablet PCs are expected to take-off this year. According to ABI Research, more than 11 million tablets will be shipped worldwide by the end of 2010.

Samsung also has big plans for its popular Galaxy S smartphone, which also runs Google Android. Last month, the company announced it has sold more than five million Galaxy S smartphones since the handset was launched in June this year.

Samsung also said it hopes to sell a further five million Galaxy S handsets before the end of the current quarter.