“Apple Computers, the maker of iPod digital music players, has dropped a joint $3.8 billion investment plan in flash chip production of Samsung Electronics, a South Korean newspaper said on Saturday,” Reuters reports. ‘Apple had proposed about 4 trillion won joint investment with Samsung Electronics in the production lines of NAND flash chips used for its MP3 players,’ a senior Samsung official was quoted by the Korea Economic Daily as saying.”
“‘But as the anti-Samsung sentiment has recently deepened among some political and civic groups, Apple ended the talks, complaining about the sentiment,’ the unnamed official was cited as saying. Apple was currently in talks with another memory chip maker for joint flash chip output in the United States, he added,” Reuters reports.
Full article here.
Advertisements:
The New iPod with Video. The ultimate music + video experience on the go. Buy it now at the Apple Store. From $299. Free shipping.
The New iMac G5 – Built-in iSight camera and remote control with Front Row media experience. From $1299. Free shipping.
In their quixotic quest to prop up homegrown makers of MP3 players that nobody wants, Korea shoots its own Samsung right between the eyes. Brilliant.
Related articles:
Apple and Samsung face potential antitrust probe by Korean FTC over NAND flash pricing – October 07, 2005
NAND flash prices rise ahead of Apple’s “One more thing…” event – October 07, 2005
Disgruntled iPod also-rans accuse Samsung of ‘damage’ by selling Apple cheap NAND flash memory – September 29, 2005
Apple’s iPod nano forces price cuts on flash-based MP3 players in Taiwan – September 15, 2005
Apple’s music competition having tough time and the iPod nano won’t help them – September 14, 2005
Piper Jaffray: Apple seeing high demand for iPod nano – September 14, 2005
Apple iPod nano 32GB possible in second half 2006? Samsung unveils new flash memory NAND chips – September 12, 2005
Also-ran MP3 player makers miffed by Apple’s impossibly low price for iPod nano – September 09, 2005
Apple introduces iPod nano – September 07, 2005
Apple stomps competitors in flash-based MP3 player market – September 02, 2005
twdldee – Lemme guess – you voted for Bush
“That “Designed in California by Apple and Manufactured in China” sticker doesn’t do it for me.”
Yeah, and while they’re at it, kick out that limey Head of Design. I want “Designed in California by Californians and Manufactured in California from Californian boxy beige plastic.”
Its not my fault. I am always on holiday when anything happens
its just a few owls, who, what where?
huh?
Mmmmm…golf
In Korea the “NAND price fixing” scandal isn’t the main contributor to the quoted anti-Samsung sentiment amongst political and civic. There’s two other big factors, both of which have been around for many years.
Firstly union membership is banned at Samsung. This of course has many student activist groups up in arms. Of course in many western companies union membership is also banned – IMHO this is mostly a storm in a tea-cup, since from what I can gather Samsung employees are generally fairly well paid and treated.
The other big scandal surrounding Samsung concerns the inheritance of Samsung group companies by the current owners, sons of the company’s founder. The concern is that they inherited large share holdings at prices significantly, and artificially, below market value. This ensured they wouldn’t have to pay much in the way of inherience tax. Conversely it affected other share-holders, negatively impacting the value of their shares. This scandal has been around for years, and keeps going back to the courts.
Sorry I’m light on detail here – these issues have been widely reported in the Korean press. I don’t read Korean, so I’m getting all this second-hand from my wife.
“Yeah, and while they’re at it, kick out that limey Head of Design. I want “Designed in California by Californians and Manufactured in California from Californian boxy beige plastic.””
What does one British designer got to do with it? What matters here are jobs in factories. I would very much want products to be manufactured in western countries, help our own people get jobs, and raise overal product quality control. What is made in USA these days anyways? Or even in Germany, UK, Japan, etc. It’s becoming less and less, and people don’t care as long as things stay cheap. Now we have to rely on the communist to ramp up our own economy. That’s just weird.
It’s always fun watching stupid business decisions cause a flame out. You gotta love a company that says, sorry we don’t want to deal with your political bullshit and bad PR fall out so we’ll find another option.
Who’s Apple gonna partner with and squash Samsungs flash output?
Samsung must be run from North Korea.
Maybe we’re all wrong and it’s our own FTC that made Apple run.
At least that’s what the Koreans are saying.