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Stolen Samsung AMOLED technology sold to rival, 11 suspects arrested

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 8:22PM EST
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Nearly a dozen suspects have been arrested and charged with crimes related to the theft and sale of AMOLED display technology under development at Samsung. Yonhap News Agency on Thursday reported that 11 suspects either currently or formerly employed by Samsung Mobile Display have been arrested. One 46-year-old researcher at Samsung is believed to have accepted a payment of nearly $170,000 from an unnamed “local rival firm” in exchange for trade secrets pertaining to proprietary Samsung technology used in the company’s AMOLED panels. The worker was deeply involved with the development of the technology in question, and he reportedly grew unhappy when he was passed over for an executive position at Samsung. According to authorities, the man unsuccessfully attempted to sell the information to a Chinese display manufacturer at that time. Experts believe that the technology in question will help Samsung take a leadership role in the emerging AMOLED TV market, which could be worth as much as $80 billion.

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