Samsung (Bloomberg)
According to Bloomberg, Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) apologized to Chinese consumers after the national broadcaster criticized the company for making handsets that allegedly malfunction because of faulty memory chips.
Samsung, the world’s largest maker of mobile phones, pledged to provide free maintenance, according to Chinese rules, for the seven models included in China Central Television’s report, according to a statement posted on Samsung’s China website and dated yesterday. The warranty for handsets produced before Nov. 30, 2012, will be extended one year, it said.
CCTV’s “Economic Half-Hour” program reported this week that Samsung’s Galaxy S and Note series handsets crash as many as 30 times a day and the chips need to be upgraded. The Suwon, South Korea-based company joins Apple Inc., Danone, Volkswagen AG and Starbucks Corp. in being accused by China’s state media of mistreating consumers in the world’s second-biggest economy.
“The Chinese government is trying to bring consumer sights back to domestic companies because they know it’s necessary to foster local companies to ensure stable economic growth,” said Lee Jin Woo, a fund manager at Seoul-based KTB Asset Management Co. in Seoul. “Samsung has read their mind well enough to keep a low profile to appear consumer-friendly.”
The Asian Century Report 