Over six months after it started investigating Samsung over allegations of hiring students to attack HTC and recommend Samsung products online, Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission has fined the local unit of Samsung.
The FTC noted on in a statement on its website Samsung had organized an Internet campaign in violation of fair trade rules to praise Samsung smartphones while slamming those of HTC and thus, it has fined Samsung Taiwan at NT$ 10 million (US$340,000), reports The Associated Press.
The case against Samsung originated from some media reports on a post in an online forum on April 1, 2013, which said Samsung hired students in Taiwan to open several fake accounts as part of a marketing campaign to promote Galaxy S4 smartphone.
This isn’t the first fine from FTC on Samsung Taiwan. Earlier, this year FTC found the company misleading consumers with false advertising of Galaxy Y Duos’ camera functions. Samsung was fined NT$300,000 at that time.
2 replies on “Taiwan regulator fines Samsung NT$ 10mn for defaming HTC”
Cheap Samsung
Sam-sung has been a criminal enterprise for a long time. This is just another example. Korean chaebols tend to be quite corrupt. A look at their structure would show it to be quite similar to the structure of the Italian Mafia. Corruption at all levels shouldn’t be surprising (and just like the Mafia, respect and honor exist only when there’s nothing at stake)