Flexible display tech theft to cost Samsung US$5.8 billion

[Redaktion]

Recently, the news of a theft of Samsung tech secrets by a supplier to the company has come to light. As a result, more than one Chinese company may have gotten its hands on the ability to make folding screens of its own. Samsung now estimates that the damage done to its revenues as a result could easily exceed US$5 billion dollars.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Flexible-display-tech-theft-to-cost-Samsung-US-5-8-billion.373611.0.html

[Andrew Corr]

Pretty simple. Any shitty Chinese tech company that releases anything with a folding display and Samsung will sue them. It's obvious most tech in China is stolen as they're not smart enough to develop cutting edge technology themselves.

[Marylou Perkins]

It will be like the patent infringement of the Sandisk Flash drives back in the 90's.

[Ath]

Sorry Andrew, but your comment is racist. In AI research, which is my field, most papers are spawned by Chinese researchers working in China and abroad. Just have a look at ArXiV. They definetely beat us (Europeans) and Americans in ML papers.

Sure, lots of companies simply copy designs. However, we have seen original designs of photography equipment (lenses and tripod) and sound (IEMs, headphones, DACs, AMPs) coming out of China that can compete or even beat Western and Japanese brands. You need to understand that a country as big as China is, copycats will exists, but so will innovators. Don't generalise.

[Felipe]

Yet it is a country that bases their development on theft. It does not punish its companies for stealing tech, it encourages it. It is a pirate nation. Whatever they are "developing" now it is thanks to stolen ip.

[IronMan]

Ath, cool story bro...You bypassed the Chinese firewall to come share your comment with the rest of the world.  How much did they pay you? 50cents?  Can you name some recent examples of "original" Chinese technological products on the market?  None!  Even the tons of research papers are copy and paste from other articles and researches.   Nothing new there.  If there are innovators where are the results?  :)

[Ath]

Ath, cool story bro...You bypassed the Chinese firewall to come share your comment with the rest of the world.  How much did they pay you? 50cents?  Can you name some recent examples of "original" Chinese technological products on the market?  None!  Even the tons of research papers are copy and paste from other articles and researches.   Nothing new there.  If there are innovators where are the results?  :)

The Fiio FH5 are arguably the best IEMs I listened to that costs bellow £250. I am so impressed by them, I just pull the plug for a Fiio DAC/Amp combo. My new iBasso SR1 is the best pair of headphones I had ever owned. The Sirui WX-2023 (or something like) is 95% as good as my Gitzo tripod, but I got at half the price and has more functionalities. Then there are the Laowa lenses that keep getting amazing reviews. I have that 7.5mm f/2.0 in my "to-get list" for some time now for my astrophotography and the northern lights. Also, hey but isn't that Kirin SoC designed and made in China? :-)

WRT papers: Have a look at NIPS --- the leading conference in Neural Networks. This year we had 20% acceptance rate --- you won't find any "copy/paste" there. The majority of the authors are Chinese. It didn't just happen; China is investing more money into AI research than the US/EU ---until HorizonEurope comes into effect in 2020! They simply lead the way when it comes to hardcore machine learning research ---the same way we (Westerns) do in cognitive architecture, responsible AI, etc. In any case, if you want to see research results, NIPS' pre-proceedings for this year are now available (free). You should also have a look at IJCAI and ICML.

No, I am not Chinese --- though I was friends a coupleof them during my PhD. More importantly, I am not quick to dismiss a complete country based on my adequate mental models.

[Mary Sue]

China is a country that has built its industry on copycat products. While some companies like Huawei and Xiaomi are NOW bringing some innovation to the market, they built their entire companies on copying the iPhone. Chinese products are also typically made to look flashy but will fall apart over a short period of time. Again, pointing to Xiaomi and Huawei, their phones look awesome and are fast and premium out of the box, but give them about 6 months and they will have bogged down significantly if they haven't fallen apart first. I really wish this site would do long-term reviews of some of their bigger reviews to tell consumers how well a product holds up after 6 months to a year of use; I would wager that Chinese cells and notebooks don't stand up to the test of time.

There's a reason that "Made in China" still has a certain stigma to it.

[captalistman]

The Chinese are the new soviets!  I can say for sure there will be many sanctions on these crooks in the future, and any American company stupid enough to move their factories there gets what they deserve!

[Joe]

Sorry Andrew, but your comment is racist. In AI research, which is my field, most papers are spawned by Chinese researchers working in China and abroad. Just have a look at ArXiV. They definetely beat us (Europeans) and Americans in ML papers.

Sure, lots of companies simply copy designs. However, we have seen original designs of photography equipment (lenses and tripod) and sound (IEMs, headphones, DACs, AMPs) coming out of China that can compete or even beat Western and Japanese brands. You need to understand that a country as big as China is, copycats will exists, but so will innovators. Don't generalise.

Criticism isn't racism.  The issue is Chinese culture of not enough people in China discouraging this kind of practice.  In fact, it is part of Chinese culture to encourage this behavior.  Living in China for several years has not shown me this fact.  Until the Chinese government publicly acknowledges and acts to restrain such behavior, they will continue to build resentment among nations who actually uphold copyrights and patents.  However, it isn't in China's best interest to discontinue this type of business practice, so I don't blame them for not caring, but I also don't respect it.

[Vance]

I don't see anything wrong with copycats. Copying does not hinder innovation or growth. If anything the practice immensely benefits consumers and expands the market. Mostly positive influences for sure.

And do not pretend like the first world nations and their top fortune industries aren't built upon a centuries worth of imitating and learning from their predecessors.

Those that are opposed are only ever afraid of losing their grasp on things. Well I say China's tech industry is one of the best things that happened in today's world.

[Fritzkier]

Looks like there's so many racist comments here lol.

Chinese products is not always bad. My Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro is still rocking good till today.

OnePlus phones also one of the best phone out here. Not to mention Apple products also made in China.

That's all depends on the brand and their Quality Control. There's also many US/EU products that are really really bad. Especially some of those on Kickstarter.

[William]

I must assume that Samsung would hold a patent on the screen production methods...of course this will then be fully protected and lawsiits will be filed against any entities , companies violating the patents ....

[MOFO]

I love how the defenders scream racism when it has nothing to do with racism just IP theft which CHINA is very well known for.
I know it , you know it, everyone knows it CHINA is not known for any innovation just copy and theft .
They will pay for it one day and with the US tariffs they are starting to feel the pain, we need more ways to stop this sort of crap and punish those guilty......hard.

[Ace Cooper]

New tech at half the price?  Sign me up.