Samsung, the world’s largest electronics maker, said Monday that it was starting a major push into the personal computer and office equipment markets, leveraging its position as the leading maker of computer monitors.

Jong Woo Park, the president of Samsung’s digital media business, announced the sales offensive as he introduced an expanded line of laptop computers and laser printers for business customers at Cebit, the largest European technology convention.

The new line of laptops, like the P200, a compact notebook weighing 1.9 kilograms, or 4.2 pounds, with a 12.1-inch, or 30.7 centimeter, screen, will help double Samsung’s global sales of portable computers that year, he said.

“Samsung is going to shake up the IT industry,” Jong Woo said. “Our goal is to become a top-tier IT company in the business and consumer markets.”

The new line of laptops is geared toward business users, with models beginning at about euro 800, or $1,215. Executives said that the company wanted

to avoid the low end of the laptop market, where intense price competition makes it difficult to generate a profit.

Samsung is the world’s largest maker of flat-screen LCD television screens, with a 23 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to DisplaySearch, an industry group based in Austin, Texas. Samsung surpassed Motorola last year to become the world’s No. 2 maker of cell phones behind Nokia, according to Strategy Analytics, a research firm.

Samsung is additionally the global market leader in flash memory chips, a type of processor used in MP3 players and digital cameras.

According to iSuppli, an industry researcher in El Segundo, California, Samsung had a 40.3 percent share of the global flash memory market in the fourth quarter.

Graham Paterson, director of IT business for Samsung in Europe, said that the company now wanted to focus on the printer and laptop businesses, which had…

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