Samsung NX100

COMPUTERS

In the weeks preceding January's reveal of the Sliding PC 7, more than 300 news items were posted about the 10.1-inch tablet computer, which touts a unique--and polarizing--slide-out keyboard. Today, "there's a very distinct split between people who are pro-Samsung and anti-Samsung," says Chris Davies, an editor at the tech blog SlashGear, "which feels very Apple."

SEMICONDUCTORS

A quarter of Samsung's revenue comes from semiconductors, bought by the likes of Dell, HP, and Microsoft, so it "has some shielding from the market," says Forrester analyst Charles Golvin. This also gives Samsung the freedom (and the cash) to toy with different technologies--Windows Phone 7, smartphones for Symbian, and Android OS, for instance--so when one of those takes off, it's ready with a top-of-the-line product.