Samsung netbooks are officially a dying breed, as an outed company memo has declared that the diminutive laptops will cease to be manufactured in 2012. So where will Samsung focus its portable computing efforts instead?
The news comes from a Samsung internal message enclosed with a ‘new 2012 strategy’. In it, Samsung asserts that it’s going to stop producing 10-inch laptops as of 2012, making it the first manufacturer to properly admit that the netbook form factor is dead in the water.
The death of Samsung netbooks will coincide with a stronger focus on devices in the Samsung Galaxy Tab range, as well as on Intel’s ‘Ultrabook’ category of high-power, incredibly slim 11.6-inch MacBook Air rivals.
The netbook’s been on its way out ever since the tablet started to shift its weight about with the launch of the iPad. Even ASUS, who invented the market with its Eee PC, has been trying to sidestep its death with combination devices such as the Eee Pad Slider and Eee Pad Transformer.
With Samsung dropping out of the race, it’s likely that the other big netbook names, such as Dell, Acer and HP, will follow suit next year.
Via Electronista
