The Fair trade Commission is looking into allegations of false advertisement after a local website posted documents “appearing to show Samsung had been recruiting students to criticize HTC and praise Samsung anonymously on the web.” If Samsung is found guilty, they could face a fine of $837,500.
For now, Samsung is simply calling the situation an “unfortunate incident” which is in contrast to the company’s “fundamental principles.” While Samsung’s local offices in Taiwan claimed to have no knowledge of the situation, they have posted a statement on their local Facebook page saying that they had “ceased all marketing activities that involve the posting of anonymous comments.”
If the Fair Trade Commission’s investigation finds that Samsung has violated the Fair Trade Act, HTC may take additional legal action against Samsung.
“We regret our competitor’s malicious attacks and efforts to discredit us. HTC values product innovation and design, and we do not rule out the possibility of taking appropriate actions to protect the interests of our company and customers if necessary.” – HTC
Sales of HTC’s smartphones have dropped significantly in the past 18 months, but Samsung’s actions clearly show that they see HTC as their key opponents in the Android space.
Source: Focus Taiwan, BBC
This is so hilarious, the giant Samsung is afraid of the little HTC.
I wonder if they paid reviewers to do the same…
I would not put it past them.
How long has this been going on?
I feel like Samsung has been doing this for years.
The hate for HTC that you used to see among tech blogs was probably a direct result of this seemingly trivial but ultimately successful propaganda.
Just think about all the times you read an article about an HTC phone only to see all the comments were trashing it and promoting a Samsung phone.
Trolling is one thing but paid product bashing???!
Maybe if we get rid of companies like these, the trolls will just magically vanish.
They’re shameless and Samsung’s reputation should take a HUGE hit.
Thanks for reporting on this as I know noone else will.
Samsung is really embarrassing , only Can produce plastic phone anymore