The traditional PC will be a long time dying, but as its market contracts, only a few major players will remain interested, while the rest will flee to mobile and ‘post-PC’ form factors. Leading the surge is Samsung, which will exit desktop PCs and focus on the mobile segments where it has thrived so well.
Its laptops remain for now, but as last week’s latest launches in its ATIV Windows 8 line indicate, these will be morphing rapidly into new designs, incorporating tablet modes, touchscreens and ultraslim designs.
A Samsung executive told Korea Times: ‘Demand for conventional desktop PCs is going down. We will allocate our resources to popular connected and portable devices.’ Of course, the Korean giant has greater flexibility to leave the sinking ship. Not only is Samsung a small PC player compared to leaders HP, Lenovo and Dell, but it has been far more successful in the smartphone and tablet spaces which are eating away at that old empire. The PC giants have repeatedly tried to deliver a convincing mobile platform, but so far, only Lenovo has made any real market impact, and most of that relies on its native China.
Increasingly, even the PC market which remains will require vendors to support features from the mobile world, such as touchscreens and new-style operating systems. This is where Samsung’s ATIV line comes in, using Windows 8 and bridging the PC/tablet divided. This month, it has even added a dual-OS model, giving users the ability to use both W8 or Android on one slate.
However, it is unclear whether launching a dual-OS product is designed to strengthen the Microsoft-based line, or is a fallback option in case customers are disappointed with the new OS. Recently, Samsung has seemed less interested in Microsoft platforms, sidelining Windows Phone and cancelling a US tablet running Windows RT. However, it aims to expand its handset power into larger-screened items such as tablets, and strengthen its second-tier position in the PC space as this migrates to new touchscreen form factors. For now at least, that means working closely with Microsoft.
The ATIV Q allows users to share files between its two operating systems, and comes with a keyboard so it can be operated in laptop mode or as a standalone slate (in fact, it has four different configurations). The offering has a 13.3-inch touchscreen with ‘QHD+’ resolution ‘ pixel density of 275ppi, which Samsung says is almost three times better than other full HD displays. The Ativ Q runs on an Intel Core i5 processor and comes with Android 4.2.2 installed.
Samsung has 18% of the tablet market, according to IDC, second to Apple on 40%, but its success rests almost entirely on Android. Now it needs to take on the giants of the PC market, such as Lenovo and Dell, in the ‘post-PC’ space ‘ and is apparently hedging its bets as to whether those hybrid products will run Android or Windows.
Samsung also introduced the ATIV Tab 3, which it claims is the thinnest Windows 8 tablet available and with 10 hours of battery life; and two more conventional notebooks, the ATIV Book 9 Plus and ATIV Book 9 Lite. And it added a new gadget to the increasingly diverse Galaxy Android family with the Galaxy NX camera, delivering 20.3-megapixels with LTE connectivity and access to Android apps such as music and maps.
Samsung was less fortunate in its Apple battle on the legal front last week, when the iPhone maker won a patent infringement case in Japan against its biggest rival. The Tokyo District Court issued a partial verdict on Friday in favor of Apple but it said further examination was needed to determine whether Samsung must pay compensation, and if so, how much. A final verdict is expected later.
The case, one of many round the world between the two companies, concerned patents for the ‘bounceback’ mechanism for scrolling on touchscreens. Samsung was found to have infringed Apple’s patent on previous Galaxy smartphone and tablet models. It has since changed its smartphone design to show a blue light, instead of bouncing back. Samsung said it will study the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.