Samsung to offer Windows tablets

Korea-based electronics maker Samsung Electronics Co. is planning to expand its range of tablet computers to include models running Microsoft’s Windows operating system, a tech site reported over the weekend. The Wall Street Journal cited the Korea Economic Daily newspaper as saying the plan comes amid legal troubles between Samsung and Apple Inc. over patent issues. WSJ cited people “familiar with Samsung’s plans" as saying the move may be announced at a conference for Microsoft developers in California, but added representatives of Samsung and Microsoft in South Korea have so far declined comment. It added Samsung’s decision to broaden its tablet computer offerings is in line with similar diversification strategies it implemented for mobile phones, TV sets and other products. “Samsung at least has to have a double bet rather than relying 100% on Android. That will give them a bargaining position with Google and expose them to a broader group of customers," WSJ quoted Chang Sea-jin, a business professor at National University of Singapore and author of a book on Samsung. But the WSJ said tablets still are a relatively tiny business for Samsung, the world’s largest technology manufacturer by revenue. Analysts estimate Samsung shipped about two million tablets in the first half yet shipped 140 million cellphones. Apple shipped 13.9 million iPads in the half. Samsung vs Apple? On the other hand, the reported plan to expand to Windows-based tablets came ahead of a decision expected from a German court on whether to leave in place an order barring sales of Samsung’s Android-based tablets. This is pending trial next year of a patent case between Samsung and Apple. The case is one of the fastest-moving of 19 lawsuits in nine countries that Apple and Samsung have brought against each other over the design and operation of their smartphones and tablet computers. In one case, an Australian court on Thursday delayed a hearing. On Wednesday a Japanese court heard preliminary arguments in a counter-suit by Apple against Samsung. In the German case, a judge in Düsseldorf last month imposed a preliminary injunction against Samsung that halted sales of its 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab, after Apple claimed Samsung copied key designs from its iPad. The order was expanded to include a 7.7-inch tablet Samsung promoted at a trade show in Germany. Samsung also has been temporarily prevented from selling some smartphones and tablets in the Netherlands - the company’s main distribution hub in Europe. The most significant of the 19 cases is the original suit Apple filed in a U.S. district court in California. A hearing on an injunction in that case is scheduled for next month, and a loss would hurt Samsung in the U.S., its largest market, the WSJ reported. — TJD, GMA News