Samsung to take on Apple's MacBooks in bid for notebook dominance
Consumer electronics maker Samsung has voiced its goal of becoming the No. 1 notebook maker, but it will run up against rival Apple and its hot-selling MacBook lineup on its way to the top.
After enjoying success in the smart TV and smartphone segments, South Korea's Samsung says it is bringing its attention to bear on conquering the notebook market.
"The strategic position of the notebook product line has become increasingly important to the overall product mix of Samsung Electronics, and the company's ultimate goal is to capture the top-ranking title in the segment, according to the company's executive vice president Gregory Lee," DigiTimes reported on Friday.
The company took the wraps off of several new notebook models at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nev., this week in an effort to capture the market. At the show, it showed off a new Series 5 ultrabook, as well as a Series 9 laptop billed as the "world's thinnest notebook." The new models are due out in Asia later this quarter.
Samsung is also working with Google on a ChromeOS-powered netbook initiative.
But, the South Korean company will face heated competition from Apple, which has seen repeated successes with its MacBook portables, most recently with its revamped MacBook Air. According to one report earlier this week, the Cupertino, Calif., Mac maker sold 1.2 million MacBook Airs in the December quarter, up 200,000 units from the third quarter of calendar 2011.
Apple has benefitted from the fact that its MacBook Airs don't use hard-disk drives, which have recently been in short supply because of flooding in Thailand. Notebooks have become an increasingly important part of Apple's Mac product line, comprising 74 percent of all Mac sales last quarter.
Intel released its ultrabook design specification last year as a response to the success of Apple's thin-and-light MacBook Air. The chipmaker is aiming to push ultrabooks to a 40 percent share of the consumer laptop market by the end of 2012, but analysts at Gartner noted on Wednesday that ultrabooks failed to gain traction when they arrived last fall.
Apple was the only company among the top five PC vendors in the U.S. to grow shipments last quarter. It saw 20.7 percent growth, compared to a dismal 26.1 percent decline in shipments from top PC maker HP. For its part, Samsung did not appear on either of Gartner's top five PC vendor lists for the global or U.S. markets.
As for smartphones, Samsung has risen to prominence with its line of smartphones in just a few years, claiming the top spot from Apple and Nokia in the third quarter of 2011. However, Apple has alleged in several lawsuits that Samsung's success is based on "slavish" copying of its iPhone designs.
Samsung reported record profits when it announced its preliminary quarterly results last week, driven largely by one-off gains and strong smartphone sales. Though the company has ceased reporting smartphone shipment numbers, one analyst estimated that the company sold 32 million smartphones in the fourth quarter. That would put it in a close race with Apple, as analyst estimates for iPhone sales range from 25 million to 36 million units, according to one poll.
Comments
I think Samsung has a chance of being the most profitable non-Mac PC vendor.
The Ultrabooks shown at CES by Samsung are really nice. I don't think anyone had a better overall design. I didn't care for the HP with the glass on the top case or the 360° foldable notebook to tablet from whomever.
I think Samsung has a chance of being the most profitable non-Mac PC vendor.
You must work for samsung...they should change there name to Copy/paste.
You must work for samsung...they should change there name to Copy/paste.
You got me. I'm a Samsung fanboy through and through.
The Ultrabooks shown at CES by Samsung are really nice. I don't think anyone had a better overall design. I didn't care for the HP with the glass on the top case or the 360° foldable notebook to tablet from whomever.
I think Samsung has a chance of being the most profitable non-Mac PC vendor.
Yeah. I've gained much respect for Samsung's notebooks. Their notebooks are still no-namers here in the US, but I've heard nothing but good things about them. I'd like to see a few tiers develop over the next few years:
1. Macbooks. Need I say more?
2. Premium PC notebooks. Here you have Samsung's higher end Series 9 and possibly even the Series 7 and ultrabooks. The Envy line could also take a spot in this line if HP could manage to get the touchpad drivers to adequate levels.
3. Bargain basement PCs. In other words, practically 80% of HP's bottom line.
You must work for samsung...they should change there name to Copy/paste.
You got me. I'm a Samsung fanboy through and through.
I love it. A fanboy calling someone with an opinion a fanboy. You people are priceless.
You must work for samsung...
Ah, well, this sort of thing isn't uncommon here, let's just take a look at the username of the person he's quoting.
…
BA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA…
You got me. I'm a Samsung fanboy through and through.
Give him/her a break, he/she is new around here... obviously.
The Ultrabooks shown at CES by Samsung are really nice. I don't think anyone had a better overall design. I didn't care for the HP with the glass on the top case or the 360° foldable notebook to tablet from whomever.
I think Samsung has a chance of being the most profitable non-Mac PC vendor.
I don't care for the glass lid on the HP machine either. But the glass palm rest is a nice ... touch.
Heck, there was even talk right before the October 2010 release of the Rev D Air that Apple would even DROP the line entirely. To Apple's credit, they kept going even after the early models struggled. If not for them blazing the trail, we wouldn't be seeing dozens of Ultrabooks at CES this week.
That said, Samsung does produce nice ultraportables, and their original Series 9 was nicely done. I also like some of the Ultrabooks I've seen from Lenovo, HP, ASUS, Acer, and even Dell. It's about time that the "standard" 5-6lb notebook went the way of the dodo.
I'm really after a unit that suports USB3, good quality screen.
I'm loving this competition as a consumer, more choices for me when the time comes to make a purchase
How the *** are they thinking they will beat Apple like that?
Shaking my head...
Considering they will be running the same Windows OS and the same applications as some cheap no name brand laptop why should a consumer buy a Samsung?
Because it runs Windows? But I agree. If I want a Windows Ultrabook I would look at someone's like Acer's. Their price is very competitive. If I want a premium notebook I would look only at Apple.