By Kim Ji-hyun
Samsung Electronics is expected to roll out a tablet PC running on a Microsoft operating system at a global electronics trade show scheduled to open in Germany next month, industry sources said on Wednesday.
The new tablet is reportedly the brainchild of the company’s IT solution business. Samsung’s existing Galaxy Tab tablets had been in the realm of the mobile business unit led by Shin Jong-kyun, one of the company’s most high-profile executives.
Samsung’s IT solution business, on the other hand, was originally, focused on other PCs, such as desktops and laptops.
Industry watchers said the showcasing of such a new tablet at IFA Berlin will mean that Samsung will have added ammunition to compete in the burgeoning tablet market, now that the PC department is rolling out tablets of its own.
Further, the two businesses may also be competing against each other, they added.
One Samsung Electronics official was quoted as saying that a partnership between the IT solution and mobile businesses would create “a synergy,” and that “an assorted line-up is Samsung’s core competence.”
The corporate partnerships that the IT solution department has forged with other PC and related parts makers was expected to help further boost the synergy effect.
Another reason Samsung is seen to be utilizing its IT solution team is because the PC market has been on the decline, as less and less people are purchasing desktops and laptops in the face of a wave of mobile devices such as iPads and Galaxy Tabs.
Also, Samsung traditionally has not been a major force in the laptop market and has exclusively targeted high-end PCs. This year, it is aiming to sell about 10 million laptop computers.
Rumors have been circulating of Samsung’s plans for the upcoming trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances.
In addition to the tablet, Samsung Electronics is also expected to unveil its “Wave Phone 3” running on its indigenous operating system, the Bada 2.0 version. The phone will have a 4-inch AMOLED display.
The introduction of the Bada phone will mark Samsung’s determination to put its name on the map as not only an electronics manufacturer, but a creator of new platforms.
Korean electronics makers, led by Samsung, have been increasingly emphasizing the need to develop operating systems and other system platforms to compete and win in the mobile device race currently dominated by Apple.
In hot pursuit, Samsung is pinning hopes on its latest lineup of tablets and the Bada phone to give it the necessary leg-up to competetion the U.S. electronics giant.
(jemmie@heraldcorp.com)