Samsung provides UEL students 4,000 tablets, while exiting Europe laptop market for good

Devices pre-loaded with course textbooks, virtual learning environment resources

The University of East London (UEL) is to give 4,000 Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablets to "freshers" this week, free of charge, in a £2m technology investment by the university.

UEL says each tablet will be "customised to [the] individual academic needs" of each student, regardless of which course they are studying, and will contain electronic versions of core textbooks as well as access to a "virtual learning environment", under a "technical partnership" both with Samsung and e-book platform Kontext.

Professor John Joughin, UEL's vice-chancellor, said that UEL "places a strong emphasis on helping students to get the most out of the time that they spend with us.

"We are delighted to be putting support directly in the hands of our students and providing them with a state-of-the-art learning platform for the duration of their studies."

The UEL deal comes only days after Samsung announced it is pulling out of the European laptop market.

Samsung UK and Ireland VP of enterprise business Graham Long said that the company believes "that technology has a significant role to play in opening doors for the leaders of tomorrow, equipping them with the skills necessary to meet the needs of the ever evolving economy".

Long added: "We are delighted to be working with UEL on this innovative project, where all new students will be provided with the latest Samsung technology to help them with their studies.

"This is a great example of a higher education establishment embracing digital trends and we hope many others will follow."

Samsung's gift could be considered timely, following its announcement that it is to stop selling laptops in Europe - including Google Chromebooks, which are often seen as being particularly attuned to the education sector.

"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.

With a forecast staff cut of around 5,000 people to follow, there are now concerns in the markets that Samsung could be becoming "the next Nokia", with German multinational financial institution Berenberg urging Samsung to keep a close eye on operating costs, and focus on "certain end-markets" as well as learning to "innovate to lead".