Samsung supplier charged for stealing its foldable display tech

Samsung will soon be launching a foldable smartphone and will use the display that was showcased recently. But how the tech works is still under the warps making it one of the most valuable techs for the company.

In fact, the South Korean officials have charged the CEO of one of Samsung's suppliers, Toptec Co Ltd, along with eight employees of the supplier for stealing the foldable phone tech and trying to sell it Samsung's Chinese competitor.

According to Bloomberg's report, after disappointing sales, the CEO of one of Samsung's suppliers set up a fake company and produced foldable displays in a different factory after planning to sell the technology to a Chinese display maker. The attempt to sell the tech was made between May and August this year for a sum of 15.5 billion won.

The report also tells how they got caught. The supplier was found loading components into a ship that was headed towards China. There are still a number of details to be uncovered. For instance, there's no word on which Chinese manufacturer was going to purchase the components.

However, we do know that the components being sold were related to "3D lamination," which could include flexible OLED display panels and adhesive that are used for the production of Samsung's Infinity Flex Display. The display is also said to come in Samsung's upcoming smartphone.

According to prosecutors in the case, Samsung spent six years and 150 billion won 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 said to launch the device with a flexible display in early 2019, after which competitors are likely to follow its footsteps and develop their own smartphones with flexible displays.