Say what?!? LG executive accused of vandalizing Samsung products in Berlin

By Trevor Mogg Published August 18, 2015

samsung and lg head to court over vandalized washing machines ww9000 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

An LG executive was interviewed by cops in Berlin this week after it was alleged he’d walked into an electronics store in the city and vandalized several Samsung washing machines on show.

We know the two South Korean tech companies have a rivalry stretching all the way back to the 1960s, but this is ridiculous.

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According to a Yonhap News report, German cops questioned LG staff at their hotel after one of them was accused of breaking the doors of four Samsung washing machines – among them the highly regarded WW9000 model.

In case it’s somehow passed you by, both companies are currently in town for the enormous and enormously important (for companies showing off their new gadgets and gizmos, that is) IFA consumer electronics trade show.

Related: LG G watch vs. Samsung Gear Live – spec showdown

Yonhap’s report said the alleged incident occurred earlier this week at a shopping mall in the city. Although the LG executive denied he’d done anything wrong, footage obtained from security cameras reportedly showed him “pressing down on the doors of the machines until they would not close properly.”

Speaking to Yonhap about the incident, LG said some machines stopped working after LG representatives “tested” them in the store as part of a regular market research exercise.

‘…it’s just one of those common incidents…’

“The executive was only checking Samsung’s washing machines as their doors were shaking when the shop clerks accused him of damaging the products,” an LG Electronics official told Yonhap, adding, “It is just one of those common incidents that occur ahead of electronics shows.”

It gets better: “There’s no reason for our research staff to visit (the shop) if LG really intended to damage rivals’ products,” the company added. “If we had such a foul intention, we would have sent someone who would not be caught.”

However, the story took another turn when Samsung said that security camera footage from another Berlin electronics store this week allegedly showed LG representatives damaging other Samsung goods.

Away from washing machines, the two companies have been fighting it out in the smartphone space in recent years, with wearables emerging as the next key battleground.

LG’s high-end G3 smartphone recently went up against Samsung’s Galaxy S5 device, while only last week the companies announced details of new smartwatches within just a few hours of each other.

As for the washing machine episode, Samsung doesn’t appear to have come out of it too badly. Yonhap reports that the case was dropped after LG agreed to buy all of the damaged machines. Result!

[via WSJ]

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Contributing Editor

Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…

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