Samsung invests in Wacom digitizers and pens

Samsung Electronics has invested in Wacom by buying 5 percent of the digitizer company. Wacom sells its own digitizing tablets and makes digitizers and electronic pens for the industry at large. It has long been the maker of pen/digitizer technology used in Tablet PCs.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Wacom worked with Samsung to produce the S Pen the latter uses in its Galaxy Note 2 smartphone and various tablets. The investment is seen by Samsung as a "strategic investment for increased cooperation with the pen solution company".

See related: Samsung Galaxy Note 2: Big enough to be worth the trouble

Samsung has expressed no intention of acquiring a majority stake in Wacom but if the collaboration works well don't discount that possibility. Wacom makes the digitizer/pen technology used by various tablet makers, a business sure to expand with the release of Windows 8.

PC makers are racing to market with various Windows 8 tablets, and no doubt a fair number of those are using Wacom technology. The Samsung investment in the company could spell big things down the road if these Windows 8 tablets start selling in numbers.

Samsung is one of the biggest smartphone makers with the popularity of its Galaxy line of phones. This includes the Galaxy Note 2 which uses the Wacom S Pen technology developed with Samsung.

This investment in Wacom could be the first step in locking up resources Samsung will need for both its smartphone business and its Android/Windows 8 tablets.