The Samsung Galaxy Tab is seeing its first price drop next week ifVerizon (VZ) promotional materials found by Droid Life are authentic.  I’ve been expecting drops since the Tab was launched and frankly surprised it has taken so long.

Samsung says it has shipped around 1.5 million Tabs since launch about three months ago which was up 50% on its original estimates.

I’d expect other US carriers to follow suit and drop their Tab prices as well.  With the exception of AT&T (T) every other carrier has priced it at $600 off contract.

Clearly Samsung is also considering the iPad 2 launch in the coming months.  The new iPad is rumored to have cameras and a more svelte form factor, something Samsung currently counts as differentiators with its Tab products. Verizon recently began selling Apple’s (AAPL) current iPads with optional Mifis.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see additional price drops, especially as other Gingerbread tablets are announced at CES next week. Specifically,the Motorola (MOT) Xoom with the latest Google (GOOG) Android software, Honeycomb which is also rumored to launch on Verizon’s network.