Taiwan FTC Slaps Samsung's Hand for Posting Fake HTC Reviews
Samsung found itself in a little bit of trouble for its role in an Internet campaign in which marketing firms were compensated for posting positive reviews of its products and negative write-ups for handsets belonging to rival HTC. Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) began investigating the claims earlier this year and has now concluded the South Korean company ran afoul of Taiwan's fair trade rules.
As a result, Taiwan's FTC slapped Samsung with a 10 million Taiwan dollar fine, Phys.org reports. That may sound like a lot, but it only works out to around $340,000 in U.S. currency, or barely a slap on the wrist for a company that earlier this month posted a record profit ($35.8 billion) for the second straight year.
Two other firms involved in the campaign also were also hit with fines, albeit for lesser amounts.
The timing of these fines comes as HTC is struggling to find its mojo again. HTC recently posted its first quarterly loss since going public in 2002, and a big reason why is because Samsung dominates the Android space. The HTC One is proof that HTC can still make desirable devices, but the company's also put resources into Windows Phone devices that haven't been selling all that well.
As a result, Taiwan's FTC slapped Samsung with a 10 million Taiwan dollar fine, Phys.org reports. That may sound like a lot, but it only works out to around $340,000 in U.S. currency, or barely a slap on the wrist for a company that earlier this month posted a record profit ($35.8 billion) for the second straight year.
Two other firms involved in the campaign also were also hit with fines, albeit for lesser amounts.
The timing of these fines comes as HTC is struggling to find its mojo again. HTC recently posted its first quarterly loss since going public in 2002, and a big reason why is because Samsung dominates the Android space. The HTC One is proof that HTC can still make desirable devices, but the company's also put resources into Windows Phone devices that haven't been selling all that well.
