HP Inc. has agreed to buy Samsung’s printer business for $1.05 billion. HP will take over the designs, intellectual property (6,500 patents) and 1,300 researchers and engineers as well as a factory in China and fifty sales offices, which will boost HP’s presence, especially in South Asia. Samsung will continue to sell under its own brand in South Korea.

Analyst Comment

One of the questions, over many years, for me is whether companies can exist in both consumer electronics and IT. Up to now, Samsung has probably been the most successful at ‘squaring the circle’ (or maybe Apple or Lenovo). However, printers were a big chunk of Samsung’s IT business and the company has, in the past, told us that it was very ambitious to become #1 in printers. However, it has trailed a long way behind HP. (BR)