Samsung has taken the extraordinary step of stopping sales of its entire laptop range in Europe.
The South Korean company will no longer offer its Ativ Windows or Chromebook devices in the region.
"We quickly adapt to market needs and demands. In Europe, we will be discontinuing sales of laptops including Chromebooks for now. This is specific to the region – and is not necessarily reflective of conditions in other markets," a Samsung spokesperson told PC Advisor.
It's well known that the wider laptop market is in a spot of bother, of course. Back in March, one of Samsung's major rivals Sony pulled out of the laptop market altogether and sold its VAIO PC arm (and we predicted at the time that it wouldn't be the last).
But Sony had been struggling for some years, and was no longer the tech giant that it used to be. Samsung, on the other hand, is the world's biggest tech company, and one that competes strongly in a number of areas.
What this move will mean for Samsung's workforce is unknown, but you'd presume there would have to be job cuts in due course.
Of course, this move isn't anywhere near as drastic as Sony's selling off of its entire PC business. The company insists that it will "continue to thoroughly evaluate market conditions and will make further adjustments to maintain our competitiveness in emerging PC categories."
In other words, if a major new category of laptop ever took off in Europe, you can bet that Samsung would be back for a slice of it.
Read More: Best laptops 2014
