Samsung has decided to sell its printer business, far from one of its core competencies, to HP, one of the stronger players in the game for $1.05 billion.
As a part of the deal, the South Korean giant will also grant HP the access to its more than 6500 patents related to the industry along with 1300 engineers and researchers.
Taking part in the transaction will allow Samsung to direct more of its efforts on its core business areas while for HP it series as a mode “to disrupt and reinvent the $55 billion copier industry, a segment that hasn’t innovated in decades”.
Printer sales have overall been on the decline for HP, which saw sales fall 10-percent, and revenue from ink and toner fall 18-percent in the last quarter alone. However, it does plan to reverse that by entering into A3 printing machines with new printer-copier combinations.
Just hours after the unveiling of the deal, HP announced 16 new printer models, including new A3 machines. This $55 billion has seen HP play its part before too, though, so far it has been dominated by a few big players like Xerox and Canon. It also plans to continue using both Canon and Samsung’s printing engines in its laser printers, and after this deal has the ability to manufacture its own, too.
Printers are a major market for HP, which a couple of years back split into Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc., with the latter handling PCs and Printers. Naturally, the decline in the printer segment rings alarm for entire unit.
Meanwhile, Samsung which already contributes just 4-percent in the global printer market can certainly utilize its resources better on its smartphone and chip-manufacturing divisions which combined contribute almost 90-percent of its profits. Its recent trimming of less lucrative divisions is going on in full force.
Via WSJ
