By Min-Jeong Lee
SEOUL-- Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday it would stop
selling laptop computers in Europe, citing the need to "quickly
adapt to market needs and demands."
The move includes Chromebooks that run on Google Inc.'s Chrome
operating system, which Samsung still offers in some other parts of
the world.
"This is specific to the region--and is not necessarily
reflective of conditions in other markets," the South Korean
company said in a statement.
The discontinuation of its laptop business in Europe would mean
Samsung will no longer have any traditional personal-computer
offerings there, as the company doesn't sell desktop computers in
the region.
Analysts don't expect the move to have a significant impact on
Samsung's earnings, however, as its mobile business has been a much
bigger business for the technology company.
Samsung doesn't break out results for the PC business, which is
under the umbrella of its mobile unit. Analysts estimate Samsung's
business in traditional PCs and laptops has been faltering in
recent years with the advent of mobile computing devices.
As for the company's laptop business in other markets, Samsung
said: "We will continue to thoroughly evaluate market conditions
and will make further adjustments to maintain our competitiveness
in emerging PC categories."
The company declined to comment on the number of laptops the
company had been selling in Europe, or globally.
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