South Korean and German police are probing the disappearance of two next-generation Samsung TVs en route to Berlin, amid suspicions of commercial espionage. Two Samsung organic light-emitting diode (OLED) sets were lost during delivery to Berlin for an Aug 31-Sept 5 technology trade fair. The Korean and German authorities are currently conducting an investigation on the disappearance of the OLED televisions. These state-of-the-art televisions from Samsung have not been officially released in the market. As these TVs are based on such cutting-edge technology owned by only a few firms, Samsung feels it was part of a crime aimed to steal it.
Samsung has promoted OLED as the next-generation technology that will help drive the future of the global television industry. Samsung and LG plan to start selling OLED TVs by the end of 2012, while Japan’s Sony and Panasonic have teamed up to jointly develop similar sets. OLED TVs do not require separate backlights and thus are thinner, consume about 20% less power and offer a sharper picture than conventional flat-panel sets.This is not the first time Samsung has lost a cutting-edge TV. In April 2001, it lost a 63-inch PDP TV in a hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the NAB international broadcast equipment fair was taking place. It was found a month later.
