Samsung will sell Windows 8 touchscreen PCs from 2012

KOREAN ELECTRONICS GIANT Samsung will sell Windows 8 touchscreen PCs from the second half of 2012, a company executive has confirmed.

Uhm Kyu Ho, head of Samsung's sales and marketing said in an interview with Bloomberg that the product will probably be a modified version of the Series 7 computer, which has a touchscreen and a wireless keyboard.

Microsoft revealed the latest version of its Windows operating system in September with a device made by Samsung. The program allows ultra-thin laptops and tablets to turn on instantly and run all day on a single charge.

Nam Seong Woo, head of Samsung's PC business, said at a briefing in Seoul that the Series 7 uses Windows 7 and can run applications for personal computers, so it is designed for those who need to produce documents and spreadsheets on devices as portable as the Ipad or tablets running Android.

Nam said that Samsung will offer an update to Windows 8 for Series 7 owners. The software lets users display favourite applications, people and information in titles on the main screen.

Samsung is aiming to raise its laptop computer sales by 80 per cent to 18 million units this year.

In September we reported that Samsung had partnered with Microsoft to make a tablet that runs Windows 8. µ