Apple the exclusive US retailer of Samsung's new printers

Korea's Chosun Ilbo English language site is reporting that Apple will be the exclusive retailer of Samsung's "world's slimmest monochrome laser printer" ML-1630 and multi-function SCX-4500. Otherwise known as the "Swan" and "Logan" respectively, they are expected to hit shelves starting will remain Apple exclusives until January 2008 at Apple's 160 or so retail stores -- a first for a Samsung product. According to an unnamed Samsung official, "Apple suggested the exclusive sales of Samsung's new printers at its retail stores. Apple is charmed by their sleek design and convenient user interface." How sweet. But until we see a press release from either Apple or Samsung, we'll chalk this one up to rumor mongering for the time being.

Update: The pair is already available "exclusively" from Apple's on-line store for $200 and $300 and should be on Apple shelves already.

[Thanks, AC]

[AC @ Sep 21st 2007 1:51AM]

The printers are available now at all apple stores.

[TRLK @ Sep 21st 2007 2:22AM]

Considering that most, if not all, apple products are white, I wonder how those printers will fit in...
It's definitely a very sleek printer though..

[Andrew @ Sep 21st 2007 2:53AM]

what white product would that be? The aluminum and glass iMac, aluminum MacPro, aluminum MacBookPro, Black Mac Book, aluminum MacMini, aluminum iPods? oh yeah their one remaining white produce the entry level white mac book.

[Zach @ Sep 21st 2007 7:23AM]

The Mac Mini is white plastic, not aluminum.

[Nick @ Sep 21st 2007 9:22AM]

@ zach

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=9A515E80&node=home/desktop/mac_mini

[Dean Heckler @ Sep 21st 2007 2:21AM]

True. Apple states the exclusivity on the product page for the printers.

[ns @ Sep 21st 2007 2:39AM]

Cool. Now how about some drivers for my SCX-4100? It's a pain in the ass having to print documents through Parallels.

[TheCanadianGeek @ Sep 21st 2007 10:56AM]

Don't worry they will drop the drivers when Leopard comes out just like last time. I have the same AIW sitting on a shelf since Tiger came out. No Intel Macs or windows machines I can even use it on.

[GH @ Sep 21st 2007 2:43AM]

Not sure if this is a smart decision for Apple, the next thing Samsung will be doing is selling a phone that has a similar stylish black look and Apple will be promoting that image in their own store..... It's good to see some real competition against HP though.

[vileta2 @ Sep 21st 2007 2:57AM]

kind of nonuniform, considering how Apple's theme is white with aluminum.

[anderesp @ Sep 21st 2007 3:02AM]

also considering that the Black Lacquer is no longer in their theme.


its all about Matte Black. who cares about that shine-y stuff...


pshhhh.

[Michael Geary @ Sep 21st 2007 3:40AM]

What everyone really wants to know is whether the original Samsung models are available.

[sfdsfsdfdsf @ Sep 21st 2007 5:20AM]

What exactly drove Samsung to agreeing with that? Does Apple pay them cash? Otherwise, what is their interest in making their product more difficult to buy? Huh?

[Ryan @ Sep 21st 2007 1:27PM]

Are you kidding? If anything they had to beg Apple for the opportunity. These are overpriced printers (considering the features alone) targeted at the market segment that will pay extra for a nice looking piece of technology. What better place to find such individuals than those who shop from Apple?

As a member of that market segment, I would buy one of these right away if they had a color laser.

[j.grey @ Sep 21st 2007 5:37AM]

We already have the printers on display and for sale at Apple!!!

[Zach @ Sep 21st 2007 7:22AM]

Now your printer can be as prone to scratches as your iPod.

[itguy07 @ Sep 21st 2007 9:25PM]

Yeah, my 1GB 1G Nano which I take running with me every day is hardly scratched up at all. The back has taken a beating, but the front is fine. And I've carried it in the case it came with it, without, with keys, without keys, etc.

And all that with few scratches. I thought the original story was BS and I think the new Scratch Panic is BS as well.

[Zach @ Sep 21st 2007 10:04PM]

My 2G nano doesn't scratch at all and I've given it a beating. But my 3G and 5G white iPods got scuffed up in a matter of weeks. And I didn't go running with those.

[Nick @ Sep 21st 2007 9:24AM]

Sweet! Now I can have an overpriced black monochrome printer for my overpriced black Macbook!

[coffee @ Sep 21st 2007 12:17PM]

I was going to ask about print quality, but the only review on the Apple site only mentioned how good it looked on the guy's desk.

"USB cable sold separately"? um, okay. Isn't it a USB printer? For $200, I think a USB cable would be a nice add-on...

//i can't believe i'm commenting on a freaking printer

[dfgdfgfdg @ Sep 21st 2007 1:58PM]

It is rather absurd to assume that everyone who likes nice looking technology is also Apple customer.

Consider the 90% market share of PCs, I guess that even when you look at that target group only, the number of non-Apple-users is still be higher than that of Apple users.

[Lenny @ Sep 21st 2007 1:14PM]

So does this mean that the ink cartridges will be exclusive to Apple as well? Or is this a universal Samsung cartridge? If its exclusive to Apple, thats gonna suck if you run out of ink, and forgot to order an extra one. There isn't a Mac store within 200 miles of me.

[azayzel @ Sep 21st 2007 2:35PM]

What a stupid move on Samsung's part. Mac sales are way below standard PC sales, so they might as well hemorrhage some cash for a few months while it's solely distributed by Apple. Their prices are way off, $200 isn't bad because Samsung's previous track record with the line has be phenomenal; i.e., excellent quality for a mini laser printer, though toner cartridges are a rip off (just refill 'em).

They're probably trying to capitalize on Apple's recent publicity, hoping their product will be seen on Apple's online store when people are looking for the latest Apple PMP's. Dumb move, limit your marketability by teaming with over-priced, under supported products for people who don't know how to use a real PC.

[hoyce @ Sep 21st 2007 4:17PM]

Interesting. Apple is stocking the printer, but apparently not the replacement toner cartridges in the Apple on-line store. Whats up with that? Where do I get the toner from Korea?

[Jeff @ Sep 26th 2007 1:35PM]

There's a typo in the article. It should read "Apple $ugge$ted the exclusive sales..." After all, Samsung doesn't make any money by keeping these printers out of Best Buy and the like while they sit only in Apple stores.

[Tom Brenner @ Oct 2nd 2007 4:32PM]

Nice Article, i also linked it here: http://www.best-printing.net/news/00000003.shtml

You can find the Printer in the online store of apple:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=2F057AAE&fnode=home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/printers&nplm=TN795LL/A%20target=