Samsung Takes Itself Out of HP's PC Sale Race

Samsung said that it is not interested in Hewlett-Packard's PC business, quashing speculation that it might be a takeover target.

Dow Jones quoted Samsung spokesman James Chung in saying. "Samsung will not take over HP's PC business."

On Thursday, Samsung provided a more complete statement to PCMag:

"To put to rest any speculation on this issue, I would like to definitively state that Samsung Electronics will not acquire Hewlett-Packard's PC Business," said Geosung Choi, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung, in a statement.

"Hewlett-Packard is the global leader in the PC business with sales of 40 million units last year, while Samsung is an emerging player in the category and sold about 10 million units in 2010," Choi added. "Based on the significant disparity in scale with Samsung's own PC business and the complete lack of synergies, it would be both infeasible and imprudent to even consider such an acquisition."

Hewlett-Packard dropped a bombshell last week in stating that it would possibly sell or spin off its PC business, although the company also said that it could retain control. Although HP defended itself as the top vendor in the PC market, it also faced barbs from competitors including Dell chief executive Michael Dell.

Since then, the market's focus has shifted less to HP then to its TouchPad, which the company priced as low as $99 and then had to deal with unprecedented demand, the likes of which the company couldn't attract at its previous price points. Smaller developers for HP's WebOS operating system, however, said that they would flee the HP tablet for rival devices, such as the Windows Phone platform.

Samsung did say, however, that it intends to grow its smartphone share.

"The proportion of smartphones is still low in emerging markets, which have a bigger growth potential," Dow Jones reported. "The market for the mass smartphone products costing below $200 is now fast expanding and Samsung's strategy is to strengthen its leadership in large emerging markets," Samsung Group Executive Vice President Rhee In-Yong told Dow Jones.

Samsung has announced a new naming scheme for its Galaxy family of cell phones and tablets, in an effort to differentiate (or dumb down) the onslaught of upcoming devices for consumers. According to Pocket Lint, Samsung will demo phones from each category at the IFA show in Berlin in the first week of September, including the "S," "M," "W," "R," and "Y" categories.

The news comes as Samsung was dealt a blow in its battle with Apple. A Dutch court today imposed an EU-wide preliminary injunction against Samsung Galaxy smartphones. Samsung, meanwhile, cites Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" in its defense against Apple here in the states.

Source;http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391760,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000760