Skip to main content

Samsung supplier allegedly tried to steal company’s flexible display tech

Samsung’s upcoming foldable phone could be a groundbreaking device, but while the company recently showed the tech in use, exactly how it works is still unknown. Not only that, but it could end up becoming extremely valuable. In fact, the CEO of one of Samsung’s suppliers, Toptec Co Ltd, along with eight employees of the supplier, were just charged by South Korean officials for allegedly stealing the underlying foldable phone tech and trying to sell it to a Chinese competitor.

A report from Bloomberg noted that after a period of slowed sales, the CEO of one of Samsung’s suppliers set up a fake company and built flexible displays in a different factory — after conspiring to sell that technology to a Chinese display manufacturer. The attempt to sell the tech to the Chinese company was made between May and August 2018 for 15.5 billion won, or around $13.8 million.

Recommended Videos

So how did they get caught? Well, according to the Bloomberg report, the Samsung supplier was found loading components into a ship that was headed for mainland China.

A number of details are still unknown. For example, we don’t yet know exactly which Chinese company tried to purchase the displays. We do know that the components being sold were related to “3D lamination,” which could include flexible OLED display panels and adhesives that are used to create the new Samsung Infinity Flex Display. That display will be featured in an upcoming Samsung foldable phone.

According to prosecutors in the case, it took Samsung six years and 150 billion won (or $134 million) to develop the technology that was leaked. In a statement to Bloomberg, Samsung said that it was “shocked at the results of the investigation by prosecutors, at a time when competitors are intensifying their technological rivalry.”

Samsung is expected to release its first phone with a flexible display in early 2019, after which competitors will likely develop and release their own devices with flexible displays. It’s currently unknown if flexible displays will really be the next major trend in smartphones, but whether it turns out to be or not, Samsung is likely to be at the forefront of the tech.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
Samsung confirms One UI 7 release date for first wave of Galaxy owners
Samsung phone running One UI 7 software experience.

The wait for Android 15 on Samsung smartphones will finally be over early next month. Samsung has announced that the highly-anticipated One UI 7 update will be released widely via the stable channel starting April 7 for Galaxy smartphone users.
In the first wave of rollout, the Galaxy S24 series phones, alongside Samsung’s current generation foldable — Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 — will be covered. It will eventually expand to older flagships, alongside a bunch of mid-range phones in the Galaxy A-series, as well.
In the coming weeks, One UI 7 will also land on the Galaxy S24 FE, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5, and Galaxy Z Flip 5 phones. On the tablet side, the Galaxy Tab S10 will be the early recipient, followed by the Galaxy Tab S9 series.
A Guided Demo of Galaxy AI | Galaxy S25 Series | Samsung
Samsung kicked off the beta-testing program in December last year, and in the past few weeks, the pool of devices has steadily expanded. One UI 7 brings a fresh design language to the phone, with a cleaner Home Screen, improved widgets, and more intuitive lock screen.
Leading the list of new features is the new Now Bar, which tracks important events and keeps users updated via a dedicated widget, right on the Lock Screen. AI is a huge part of the One UI 7 experience, riding under the Galaxy AI banner. Among them is a feature called AI Select, which is aware of the on-screen content, and based on what users highlight, it will offer actionable buttons.
Galaxy AI | Now Brief | Galaxy S25 Ultra | Samsung
For example, if there’s a ticket in the camera view, AI select can automatically surface one-tap controls such as adding it to the Calendar or showing the venue on Google Maps. Then there’s Writing Assist, which offers a handful of AI-powered facilities such as rewriting, summarization, and proofreading, working in the same vein as Writing Tools on Apple devices.
However, do keep in mind that not all One UI 7 features will be available across every compatible device. For example, the audio eraser feature, which can selectively erase noise from videos, will not go beyond phones older than the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy Tab S10 duo, or the sixth-generation Samsung foldable phones. Similar is the situation with natural language search in the Settings app.

Read more
Samsung’s upcoming Fan Edition tablets might test fans’ patience
Leaked render of Samsung Galaxy S10 FE Plus.

Samsung is expected to launch new budget-centric tablets in the coming weeks, expanding its portfolio of “Fan Edition” devices. But it seems the upcoming Galaxy Tab S10 FE series of slates will test the loyalty of Samsung enthusiasts with a higher asking price.
The folks over at YTechB have shared the purported pricing structure for the vanilla Galaxy Tab S10 FE and its Plus variant, and it seems a minimum price hike worth $50 is on the horizon. This is what the outlet shared:

Galaxy Tab S10 FE (8GB RAM /128GB storage) - $499
Galaxy Tab S10 FE (12GB RAM / 256GB storage) - $569
Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ (8GB RAM /128GB storage) - $649
Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ (12GB RAM / 256GB storage) - $749

Read more
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 & Flip 6 start getting One UI 7 beta update
Update banner for Samsung One UI 7 beta testing

Samsung has started the rollout of OneUI 7 Beta update for its latest foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6. Multiple users have on X and Samsung’s community forum have reported receiving the enrolment message on their eligible Samsung phone.

A few days ago, the company promised that One UI 7 beta testing for its latest foldables will kick off for users in India, Korea, the US, and the UK. As per user posts in the Samsung forum, Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 users in the US have started receiving the update.

Read more