Samsung Moving Away From Traditional Desktop PC Business

The Korea Times reports that Samsung is bailing out of the "unprofitable" desktop PC business, and will focus on tablets and all-in-one laptops instead.

A company official said on Monday that the reason for the move is due to the drop in demand for traditional desktop PCs. Instead of investing in a money pit, the company will allocate resources to popular connected and portable devices. Research teams and technology development units are already receiving a boost for tablet and all-in-one laptop form factors.

"Tablets, all-in-one and hybrid PCs are Samsung's current focus," another Samsung official told the paper. "Samsung is speeding up its restructuring of its PC business via product realignment toward profitable variants."

Just recently, the Korean government deemed the desktop PC business as an industry suitable for smaller firms from 2015. But Samsung's shift away from the desktop sector, according to the report, shows that traditional desktop PCs in Korea are being phased out for more mobile, all-in-one devices such as convertible laptops.

Yet Samsung introduced the ATIV One 5 Style AIO PC last week, likely one of the "profitable variants" mentioned by the Samsung official sporting Windows 8, a 4.5 mm metal frame and the company's trademark "Galaxy" tablet design. Slated to launch later this year, it will pack a 21.5 inch Full HD touch screen, 4 GB of RAM, and AMD's A6 Series quad-core APU. Other features will include SideSync technology for sharing content to a smartphone, and HomeSync Lite for managing individual accounts on the PC while also backing up, managing and accessing content on smartphones.

Samsung reportedly sold 9.1 million tablets globally during the first three months of 2013, and is aiming to sell at least 33 million units before the end of the year, up from 16 million units sold in 2012. The company just introduced three new Galaxy Tab 3 units here in the States on Monday, spanning 7 inches to 10.1 inches.

"The connected world is going to expand," said Kim Il-tae, a senior fund manager at Taurus Investment. "This is the industry's new trend. Simply put, desktop PCs are no longer a cash-generator. Samsung is getting smarter."