Samsung says not interested in HP's PC business

A logo of HP is seen outside Hewlett-Packard Belgian headquarters in Diegem, near Brussels, January 12, 2010.

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co reiterated on Thursday it is not interested in buying Hewlett-Packard Co's PC business, shooting down persistent market talk the South Korean firm may snap up the unit to become the world's top PC maker.

Samsung's rare and strong denial comes as its component customers fret over its potential conversion into a serious competitor.

Samsung is the world's biggest maker of computer memory chips and also a top maker of flat screens used in computers and laptops.

"I would like to definitively state that Samsung Electronics will not acquire Hewlett-Packard's PC Business," Samsung chief executive Choi Gee-sung said in a statement.

"Hewlett-Packard is the global leader in the PC business, while Samsung is an emerging player in the category. Based on the significant disparity in scale with Samsung's own PC business and lack of synergies, Samsung is not interested in the acquisition."

Samsung sold only about 10 million units of PCs last year, one fourth of HP's sales. The South Korean firm counts HP and its rival Dell Inc among its core clients of chips and flat screens.

HP said last week that it may spin off the world's largest PC business, part of a wrenching series of moves away from the consumer market, including killing its new tablet.

The announcement stoked expectations that its Asian rivals including Lenovo Group Ltd and Taiwan's Acer Inc might be interested in the unit, which some analysts value at $10-$12 billion, banking sources said.

Cash-rich Samsung has been tipped as a potential buyer in some media and brokerage reports.

(Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)