Samsung Electronics’s IT division is looking to establish itself as a serious player in the business-to-business (B2B) space this year.
The IT division, incorporating notebooks, printers and displays, is headed up by David Smith, who joined the company in December following stints at both Canon and HP.
Speaking to CRN, Smith said: “Samsung has a big consumer presence, but when it comes to IT products it is less well known, particularly in the B2B market. This year our aim is to raise the profile of Samsung’s IT products in the corporate world.”
Although the display business is a flat market, Samsung is targeting year-on-year growth of 47 per cent in 2008, which according to Smith it is already on track to achieve.
Samsung is aiming to double its printer sales. Last year it achieved 40 per cent growth.
Smith is also looking to triple the notebook business Samsung did last year and is looking to the channel to achieve this.
“Until now we have had a very thin line-up in notebooks ­ mainly consumer-focused products ­ but we are about to launch a bigger line-up this year, mainly aimed at the B2B space. While we have plenty of VARs selling our displays and printers we could do with more selling our notebooks,” said Smith.
Despite its strong brand name, Smith is keen to point out that Samsung is still small enough to be able to turn things around quickly.
“There is not the bureaucracy there is with larger vendors and we have the power at our UK headquarters to make decisions. We also have regular contact with Samsung’s research and development facility in Suwon, South Korea, so have the ability to influence design and pricing,” added Smith.
He also claimed that Samsung’s IT products are not over distributed in the UK so resellers can still make good margins.
Loay Lawrence, commercial director at VAR Vohkus, said: “Up until now, Samsung’s notebooks and printers have been very consumer orientated. It will take a lot for it to establish itself in the B2B sector, particularly with notebooks alongside the likes of Dell, HP and Lenovo.”
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