Antitrust watchdog to punish Samsung for unfair price-cutting

South Korea's antitrust watchdog plans to take action against Samsung Electronics for unfairly cutting the price of parts it buys from suppliers, a government official said Friday.

Speaking at a radio talkshow, Kang Dae-hyung, vice chairman of the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), said Samsung had unilaterally changed its payment method for the parts used in its liquid crystal displays (LCD) from the Korean won to the U.S. dollar.

"This has effectively resulted in unfair price cuts, and the FTC has found evidence to support this," he said. The Korean won has risen sharply against the greenback, making it cheaper for the electronics giant to buy parts using dollars.

Kang added that the watchdog is deliberating on this matter, with a verdict on the extent of corrective measures or fines to be released in due course.

In addition, the vice chairman confirmed that investigations are underway to determine if Qualcomm Inc. has been engaging in unfair trading practices, including the bundling of multimedia application programs by using its dominant position in the code division multiple access (CDMA) technology market.

The U.S. holds key patents in the CDMA technology field, giving them unsurpassed leverage that can hurt both manufacturers and consumers.

Seoul, July 7 (Yonhap News)