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Samsung has bought a 10 percent stake in South Korea-based mobile producer Pantech. The purchase of shares in the country's third-largest smartphone manufacturer, reported to be worth 53 billion won ($47.6 million), will make Samsung the third-largest stake holder, just behind Qualcomm and the state-owned Korea Development Bank.
The headquarters of Samsung Display has been searched by police, as part of an investigation into possible OLED technology theft. Officers from the South Metropolitan Police Agency searched the offices in Asan, South Korea, for documents relating to the leak of secrets to LG, specifically anything that can show if Samsung itself is involved.
Samsung is suing LG over allegations it is tainting the value of Samsung's brand. The lawsuit, filed in the Seoul District Court in South Korea, sees Samsung demanding 50 billion won ($45 million) in compensation for "tarnishing its corporate image", and is the latest move in the ongoing feud between the two electronics manufacturers over its refrigerators.
LG Display is planning to boost its organic light emitting diode (OLED) efforts with a 706 billion won ($657 million) investment. The boost of cash will go towards an eighth-generation OLED TV panel manufacturing line at its P9 plant in Paju, South Korea, expanding its current manufacturing processes by a considerable amount.
A South Korean politician has lost his seat in parliament, due to methods used in exposing corruption within electronics giant Samsung. Roh Hoe-Chan, member of the Progressive Justice Party, had broken communication laws by publishing transcripts of conversations gained through wiretapping.
Pantech has revealed its first smartphone with a full HD display, succeeding the 5-inch Vega S5 the company unveiled in July. The Vega No. 6 phablet has a 1920x1080-resolution IPS screen measuring 5.9-inch diagonally, which is claimed by Pantech be the first in South Korea of it's size to be able to use an LTE data connection.
Samsung has used a crafty legal maneuver in an attempt to gain access to Apple's iOS source code, claiming that -- after suing Apple in South Korea for allegedly infringing on one of its patents -- it will need to see the source code in order to verify that the infringement took place. While in most courts this would be called a "fishing expedition," Samsung is on home territory in South Korean courts, where it scored its only significant patent victory against Apple in its ongoing legal complaints.
Apple has formally announced this year's Lunar New Year sale throughout much of southeast Asia. The event, also known as "Red Friday," is scheduled for January 25, and will include discounts on Macs, iPads, iPods, and accessories, as well as free shipping. An official gift guide has been published to go with the event, but as usual Apple hasn't revealed what the exact discounts will be. Those should only be published on the 25th itself.
Samsung's 85-inch ultra high-definition television has been priced ahead of its March release in South Korea. The S9 is available to pre-order in the country at a cost of 40 million won ($38,000), and though this is not necessarily the same as it will cost in the United States, the South Korean price far exceeds similar UHDTVs from other manufacturers.
Samsung's Galaxy Note II continues to see strong sales in the manufacturer's native country, as well as around the world. The South Korean conglomerate announced today that its stylus-enabled handset has passed the one million unit mark in South Korea and continues to outpace its predecessor in terms of consumer adoption. The original Galaxy Note was released to respectable sales, moving 10 million units in the 10 months after its launch, but its successor is on pace to hit that mark in under half the time.
