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Samsung-Apple Flash Deal May Bring Korean Govt. Scrutiny

Monday, October 10th, 2005 at 11:50 AM - by Staff

Samsung's agreement to sell 40% of its flash memory output to Apple at reduced prices could bring scrutiny from Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC). The agency's chairman, Kang Chul-kyu, told CBS radio over the weekend that the FTC "could take action" if Korean MP3 player manufacturers request it, according to a report at The Korea Times.

Apple's deal with Samsung has enabled it to sell the flash-based iPod nano for less than comparable flash-based MP3 players, forcing competitors to cut their prices. Reporter Seo Jee-yeon wrote that the Korea Portable Audio Consortium (KPAC) interest group estimated that a 10% price gap exists between what Apple paid and what its competitors are paying Samsung.

"The KPAC has yet to decide whether to take file to the FTC," Mr. Jee-yeon reported.

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Mon Oct 10, 2005 12:43 pm

Volume discounts are a fact of life, even in Korea. It doesn't matter if you're talking about component makers or companies selling to retailers - buy a lot and you get a discount. The companies complaining certainly don't want to have to disclose the discounts they give to major customers - a good way to have this complaint dropped very quickly.

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Benton said:

member since 07 Jan 2005 with 62 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Mon Oct 10, 2005 2:15 pm

This is not news. Report when some one takes action.

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