Samsung Electronics is being investigated for allegedly selling NAND flash memory chips to Apple, its U.S.-based key customer, at half their market value, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Wednesday. Samsung is suspected of supplying 2-gigabyte and 4-gigabyte flash memory chips to Apple at half the market price, a practice called dumping. Domestic MP3 player makers claim they are being hurt by cheap iPod Nano, Apple's latest MP3 player, which uses NAND flash memory chips instead of hard disk drives.
FTC Chairman Kang Chul-kyu indicated last month that his agency might take action against an alleged unfair deal between Samsung and Apple, if local MP3 players request the probe, making it clear that the investigation would be very thorough. To determine whether Samsung Electronics violated fair trade laws to supply the chips to Apple, we have asked for all relevant documents from the company,'' an FTC official said.
News source: The Korea Times
