Samsung denies interest in HP's PC division

Rich Fiscus
25 Aug 2011 10:49

Samsung has stated in no uncertain terms they won't be buying Hewlett-Packard's PC business.
A statement on the South Korean electronics giant's official blog states, "The recent rumors that Samsung Electronics will be taking over Hewlett-Packard Co.'s personal computer business are not true."

Samsung chief executive Choi Gee-sung also issued a separate statement with additional details:

Hewlett-Packard is the global leader in the PC business, while Samsung is an emerging player in the category. Based on the significant disparity in scale with Samsung's own PC business and lack of synergies, Samsung is not interested in the acquisition.

Rumors about an acquisition came on the heels of HP's decision to spin off their PC business (Personal Systems Group) into a separate unit, with an eye towards selling it. HP is currently the market leader in PC sales.

There are several reasons it probably doesn't make sense for Samsung to buy HP's PC division, starting with the uncertain future of the PC market as a whole.

Over the last few years the personal computing market has been moving away from desktops in favor of mobility. That has been a significant factor in HP's recent success.

As the mobility trend continues, the next logical step is for tablets and smartphones to overtake laptops as the dominant form factor. Samsung is already a major player in those markets.

They also have relationships with top desktop and laptop vendors. Becoming a major competitor for those companies could have an adverse effect on that side of Samsung's business, just as their smartphone and tablet business has broken their relationship with Apple.