Happy Monday! While traveling, I’ve pre-recorded this podcast in advance of this week’s Samsung Unpacked event. A bit serious and a bit tongue in cheek, here’s how I transitioned from die-hard Samsung Knight to insufferable hater. I often pick on the most toxic members of a brand’s fandom, but I haven’t done a great job of explaining how I got here. Let’s get our tech week started right!

Links mentioned in this podcast!

• 1999 – 2006 Price Fixing LCDs https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/lcd-makers-fined-388-million-for-alleged-price-fixing/
• 2012 – LG Samsung and carriers caught price fixing phones in Korea https://techcrunch.com/2012/03/15/samsung-lg-korean-carriers-fined-for-mobile-price-fixing-scheme/
• 2012 – Apple CopyCat IP lawsuits https://bgr.com/general/samsung-young-sohn-interview-apple/
• 2013 – Samsung Astroturfing fake negative reviews of HTC devices https://www.ibtimes.com/samsung-caught-astroturfing-taiwanese-ftc-fines-galaxy-s4-maker-340000-fake-negative-reviews-htc#:~:text=Jan.%207%2C%202013.%20REUTERS%2FRICK%20WILKING%20The%20Fair%20Trade,practice%20of%20disguising%20sponsored%20messages%20as%20disinterested%20reviews.
• 2013 – Note 3 Caught Inflating Benchmark scores https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/galaxy-note-3s-benchmarking-adjustments-inflate-scores-by-up-to-20/
• 2013 – Samsung Fined in Taiwan for Misleading Ads https://techcrunch.com/2013/01/10/samsung-fined-by-taiwans-fair-trade-commission-for-misleading-advertising/
• 2013 – Presidential candidate Park Geun Hye backs off Samsung during election, is elected president of South Korea https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/tax-evasion-bribery-and-pricefixing-how-samsung-became-the-giant-that-ate-korea-8510588.html
• 2014 – Vanity Fair Article on Abuse, Collusion, Price Fixing, IP theft from Samsung (covers MULTIPLE instances of abuses) https://www.vanityfair.com/news/business/2014/06/apple-samsung-smartphone-patent-war
• 2014 – EU fines Samsung Royal Philips, and Infineon for price fixing “Chip Cartel” https://www.livemint.com/Companies/nAhxZr7GXLWqkF7iqUi3iL/Samsung-Philips-said-to-face-EU-fines-on-smart-card-chip-ca.html
• 2017 – President Park impeached for bribery and corruption charges involving Samsung and Lee Jae Young https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-49507401
• 2018 – Samsung sued over labor conditions https://phys.org