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Samsung Re-Enters U.S. Notebook Market

Today’s notebook news may wind up being all about Apple, but South Korean electronics giant Samsung is making some interesting moves of its own: it is re-entering the U.S. notebook market with three slim, stylish models specifically targeting the sorts of customers who would consider Apple’s MacBook Air or ultra-tiny Sony Vaios…plus the lineup includes a netbook for those folks considering tapping into the Asus Eee craze.

Samsung’s X-series of notebook computers offer thin and stylish designs, and are aimed at the premium notebook market. The Samsung X360 weights just 2.8 pounds with a magnesium alloy chassis and a “pebble” style keyboard. The unit sports an Intel Core 2 Duo mobile processor and Intel Centrino 2 low-power technology, a 128 GB SSD hard drive, a 13.3-inch WXGA (1,280 by 800 pixel) LED-backlit screen, along with a 7-in-1 media car reader, 802.11a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR wireless connectivity, HDMI output, and a 1.3 megapixel Web cam. The X360 will support 1 to 4 GB of RAM, offers an eternal DVD super multi dual layer DVD burner, and claims battery life of up to 10 hours with an optional 6-cell battery. The X360 will carry a $2,499 price tag,; if that’s a little spendy, the X460 will offer mostly-identical specs with a 160 GB traditional hard drive for $1,899—although it weights almost 4.2 pounds.

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For the netbook crowd, Samsung is offering the NC10, a small-cased ultraportable in white or metallic blue that offers a 10.2-inch display and a 160 GB hard drive at prices starting at $499.

Samsung plans to ramp up U.S. distribution of its notebooks by early 2009, adding distributors and brick-and-mortar retail partners. The company also plans to introduce new notebooks targeting traditional business and enterprise users. And Samsung may have something going for it: after all, it makes many of the components that go into the world’s top-selling notebook computers—aside from processors and graphics controllers, Samsung pretty much makes everything else that would go into a standard computer…especially LED-backlist LCD displays. But it remains to be seen if the company can establish itself as a reliable brand in the U.S. market alongside other Asian competitors like Toshiba and Sony, along with stalwart U.S. brands like Dell, HP, and Apple.

Geoff Duncan
Former Contributor
Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…
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