Samsung Buys Stake in ‘S-Pen’ Collaborator

By Min-Jeong Lee

Samsung Electronics 005930.SE -0.28% has acquired a 5% stake in stylus makerWacom Co. 6727.TO -1.50% of Japan, a deal that could herald upgraded digital pens for its popular line of smartphones.

Source Samsung

Wacom worked with Samsung to create the “S Pen” that comes with Samsung’s Galaxy Note. Samsung said it doesn’t plan to take a controlling stake in the Japanese company.

“It’s a strategic investment for increased cooperation with the pen solution company [Wacom], to come up with a differentiated and upgraded pen as such demand is expected to rise,” a Samsung Electronics spokesman said.

Samsung’s smartphones have generated hype that rivals the iPhone’s, and the competition in the smartphone market remains intense. In January, Samsung said it had shipped more than 100 million Galaxy S smartphones since the first one was revealed in 2010. The latest model, Galaxy S III, was released in May, and the Galaxy Note II came outin September.  Reports say the next Galaxy smartphone model could hit the markets within the first half.

The popular Galaxy S smartphone series doesn’t come with styluses but users of the latest Galaxy S III models can separately buy ones called “C Pen” to use.

Analysts say the latest stake acquisition is just a starter for Samsung’s M&A activities this year as it seeks to boost its stable of software and patents to better combat rivals such as Apple Inc. AAPL -0.41%

The South Korean company is likely to be particularly interested in parts suppliers that it relies on heavily for its suite of products, KDB Daewoo Securities analyst James Song said.

Samsung’s latest acquisitions include the mobile-technology business of the U.K.’s CSR, and California-based storage software piooner, NVELO.

Source: blogs.wsj.com