The technology industry has been repeatedly demonstrated to be a cut-throat market, with companies suing rivals over any potential minor ‘infraction’ against their rights, and while the credibility of that practice is debatable, one that has very little claim to justification is applying underhand tactics to gain an edge over competitors.
On this occasion, it is Samsung, so often the victim of Apple’s business methods in the former category, who have been declared a guilty party in the industry, after it has emerged that in Taiwan they have been hiring their own workers and outsourcing a local company to generate online reviews that praise Samsung’s products and criticize rivals, with HTC believed to be amongst the main victims of this case.
The ‘fake online reviews’ posted by OpenTide (a collection of ‘hired writers and designated employees’) were made on Taiwanese forums, and were picked up on earlier this year by Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission, who after a lengthy formal investigation have declared Samsung guilty, issuing a fine of NT$10m ($340,000, KRW361.2m) for damages caused.
Taiwan’s FTC does not indicate specific victims of this practice, merely noting that the posts “…highlight the shortcomings of competing products”. It adds that Samsung participated in “…disinfection of negative news about Samsung products” whilst deliberately incorporating ‘positive evaluations’ of their own devices.
Samsung had spoken of the accusations when the investigation began in April, stating at the time: “The recent incident was unfortunate, and occurred due to insufficient understanding of these fundamental principles. Samsung Electronics Taiwan (SET) has ceased all marketing activities that involve the posting of anonymous comments, and will ensure that all SET online marketing activities will be fully compliant with the company’s Online Communications Credo. We regret any inconvenience this incident may have caused. We will continue to reinforce education and training for our employees to prevent any future recurrence.”
They added of the more recent news: “We are disappointed that the Taiwan FTC has decided that we have violated the Fair Trade Act based on online marketing activities. However, we remain committed to engaging in transparent and honest communication with consumers. Samsung Electronics Taiwan is carefully reviewing the decision and will take all necessary steps to protect our reputation as a company which values its customers. Samsung Electronics Taiwan will continue to provide exceptional value for consumers in Taiwan through a wide variety of innovative products and services.”
The fall-out from this event will be made clearer in future months, but the important question to me made is whether or not lessons have been learned…