Samsung Courting Ex-Acer CEO For Euro Tech Expertise?

Samsung is tipped to be hunting after ex-Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci, with the outspoken exec seen as a potentially valuable source of European notebook insight, according to new leaks. Both Samsung and Dell have supposedly been courting Lanci, DigiTimes' sources claim, after he left Acer back in March following disagreements with the company's board.

The Korean company is reportedly hoping that Lanci's insights into Europe's sales channels, as well as his knowledge of notebook production, will help it climb the PC charts. Although Samsung holds the number two spot for phone sales – and is expected to have narrowed the gap even more between it and Nokia when Q2 figures are revealed - it is only in seventh place for notebooks, having shipped around 9.9m units worldwide in 2010 based on IDC figures.

In Europe, meanwhile, Samsung is a little higher – sixth position – thanks to a strategy of partnering with carriers over bundled netbook deals. With netbooks falling from favor, however, the company is believed to be looking for external expertise to boost its tablet and laptop business.

Lanci is believed to have disagreed with the Acer board on the overall strategy toward mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. His successor, Jim Wong of the IT products group, promised to take a more cautious approach to tablets and mobility products, building instead "on the solid foundation of the main PC business."