Samsung heir could be charged for accounting fraud and stock manipulation

Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-Yong has been embroiled in legal troubles for the past few years. He is facing a retrial for his role in the alleged forced merger of Cheil Industries Inc. and Samsung C&T and the accounting fraud at Samsung Biologics. Today, the South Korean prosecution is expected to announce the results of the investigation, likely indict Lee, and charge him without detention.

Lee could be face charges related to accounting fraud, stock manipulation, and violation of capital market laws. Prosecutors suspect that Samsung Group’s current de-facto leader in a company-wide scheme to plan an illegal merger so that he could take over the control of the company from his ailing father, Lee Kun-Hee, who suffered a heart attack in 2014. Although Lee has denied these allegations, prosecutors believe that there is enough evidence of his wrongdoing.

Prosecutors believe that Lee operated a scheme to inflate the value of Cheil Industries and deflated the value of Samsung C&T before the merger. Lee was the largest shareholder of Cheil Industries, with a stake of 23.2 percent. These decisions allowed Lee to take control of the Samsung Group from his father. He was also reportedly a part of a plan that inflated the value of Samsung Bioepis, a joint venture of Samsung Biologics (a subsidiary of Cheil Industries) and US-based Biogen Inc.

The South Korean prosecution accelerated the investigation this year and called former and incumbent senior executives at Samsung over the case. Choi Gee-Sung and Kim Jong-Joong were summoned along with Lee for questioning. Kim Jong-Joong used to lead Samsung Group’s now-disbanded control tower, the Future Strategy Office.

Lee had hoped that the recommendation of the prosecution’s independent panel to drop charges citing difficulties in substantiating some of them would make the case go away. The board of fourteen members had concluded on June 26 by 10-3 that the prosecution’s investigation in the high-profile succession case was not warranted. However, prosecutors still managed to build up a case against Lee after gathering opinions from various accounting professors and management.

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Samsung Electronics collaborates with Corning to develop its own foldable glass

Samsung Electronics’ newer generation foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Z Flip and the Galaxy Z Fold 2, use Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) that has been developed by Samsung Display. However, the company has plans to develop its own foldable glass technology, and to that end, it has collaborated with Corning.

Samsung is at the forefront of the foldable smartphone segment, and it wants to internalize the development of key materials for such devices. Foldable glass is a critical component for foldable phones. It is being reported that the South Korean smartphone giant is developing foldable glass using Corning’s substrate. In comparison, Samsung Display’s Ultra-Thin Glass panels are made using German firm Schott’s glass substrate.

Apparently, Samsung Electronics chose Corning as Schott signed an exclusive supply contract with Samsung Display. Corning has been reportedly developing bendable glass internally, but its development started later than Schott’s. Now, the American glassmaker has received large orders from Samsung Electronics for glass substrate.

Corning’s spokesperson told ETNews that it is currently supplying bendable glass substrate to a firm, but they can’t reveal the name of its client. Samsung’s smartphone division is reportedly looking to develop its in-house foldable glass and force Samsung Display to lower the price of its panels. However, it could be difficult for Samsung Display to lower prices further as it is currently difficult to improve the yield in the substrate cutting process.

Samsung Display currently only supplies UTG to Samsung Electronics, but it is expected to diversify its client list in the future and reduce the reliance on Samsung Electronics. Huawei seems to have recently placed orders from Samsung Display for its future foldable smartphones. Samsung’s display manufacturing arm is pegged to be the number one foldable display panel supplier for a few years.

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Target’s unlocked Galaxy Note 20 5G is accompanied by a $200 gift card

The unlocked Galaxy Note 20 5G is now available in the USA at Target. Although this bit of news might not sound overly exciting at first, the retailer is offering an amazing deal wherein customers wanting to buy the unlocked Galaxy Note 20 5G from Target will receive a $200 gift card. The phone itself costs $999, so the gift card essentially gives you back 20% of the retail price to spend on other products.

Target’s Galaxy Note 20 5G deal is valid until September 5 so you’ll have the rest of the week to decide whether or not you want to take advantage of it. Keep in mind that the Galaxy Note 20 5G in the USA comes with 128GB of storage and Target is listing only the Mystic Gray variant at the time of writing.

Now, if you’re looking for ideas on what you could be doing with the $200 gift card, you might want to consider the Galaxy Buds Live. They’re available at Target in three color options for $169 so you’d even have some spare change left.

You could argue that the Galaxy Note 20 5G is not worth $999 to begin with and that the Target gift card merely brings the price down to where it should have been in the first place. And we wouldn’t disagree with you, but the reality of the situation is that the Galaxy Note 20 is still being sold for $999 so if you’re looking to buy one, there’s no reason not to look for a discount. Check the link below for more details.

• Buy unlocked Galaxy Note 20 5G from Target
• Buy the Galaxy Buds Live from Target

Galaxy Note 20 5G

• Model: SM-N981B
• Dimensions: Bar: 161.6 x 75.2 x 8.3 mm
  
• Display: 6.7 inch / 170.18 mm Super AMOLED Plus
• CPU: Exynos 990
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

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Samsung didn’t tell you this but One UI 2.5 adds sound to Motion photos

Samsung introduced One UI 2.5 along with the Galaxy Note 20 series. The latest version adds numerous new features while improving existing ones, and these latest additions have already been ported over to older devices like the Galaxy S20 series through firmware updates. But there’s one feature (at least) that hasn’t been mentioned in any of Samsung’s changelogs. It turns out that One UI 2.5 changes the way Motion photo works by adding sound to these short clips.

Motion photo exists in the Camera app for Galaxy devices running older versions of One UI, so the feature itself is not entirely new; only its sound component is. It’s an option that lets you capture a short clip alongside your new photo, and it can be enabled or disabled by tapping a toggle in the viewfinder. But with One UI 2.5, Samsung has added sound to Motion photos in case you want to convert a Motion photo to a 1-second long video.

We’re not sure why this addition was left out from Samsung’s changelog for One UI 2.5 but it does make us wonder if there are other small changes to the user experience that people may have missed. Either way, sound for Motion photos is not a Galaxy Note 20-exclusive and it is available to the Galaxy S20 series post firmware update.

As to how useful it is to have sound attached to Motion photos, that’s up to each of you to decide. Do you have any use cases in mind for this feature? Let us know in the comment section below and check our definitive guide in case you need to refresh your memory on how to use Motion photos.

Galaxy Note 20

• Model: SM-N980F
• Dimensions: Bar: 161.6 x 75.2 x 8.3 mm
  
• Display: 6.7 inch / 170.18 mm Super AMOLED Plus
• CPU: Exynos 990
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

• Model: SM-N985F
• Dimensions: Bar: 164.8 x 77.2 x 8.1 mm
  
• Display: 6.9 inch / 175.26 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Exynos 990
• Camera: 108MP

More specifications

Galaxy S20

• Model: SM-G980F
• Dimensions: Bar: 151.7 x 69.1 x 7.9 mm
  
• Display: 6.2 inch / 157.48 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Exynos 990
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy S20+

• Model: SM-G985F
• Dimensions: Bar: 161.9 x 73.7 x 7.8 mm
  
• Display: 6.7 inch / 170.18 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Exynos 990
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G

• Model: SM-G988B
• Dimensions: Bar: 166.9 x 76.0 x 8.8 mm
  
• Display: 6.9 inch / 175.26 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Exynos 990
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

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Samsung business still at risk, facing ‘triple threat’ at home

Between a historically low production output, steadily declining electronics sales across the globe, and “humilitating” chipmaking troubles, business hasn’t exactly been good for Samsung this year. While a lot of those issues stem from the unpredictable turn of events 2020 had in store for us, Samsung is in need of solutions, not excuses. Especially given how its top management is getting dangerously close to yet another high-profile scandal not long after Vice Chairman and heir apparent, Lee Jae-yong, managed to get his prison sentence over government bribery miraculously suspended.

Suspended, but not overturned, because South Korean officials are still mulling over whether to go after Lee once again for largely the same thing – the manner in which he consolidated his power at Samsung, tightly grasping control of the conglomerate that’s been in the family for over 80 years now.

Samsung’s trifecta of headaches: coronavirus, courts, Korean government

Lee already vowed to end Samsung’s royal line but the fact that he continues to benefit from it isn’t something Seoul officials are eager to drop. New reports out of South Korea indicate a retrial is still very much in the realm of possibilities. Another major domestic worry for the chaebol is the increased regulatory pressure that’s lately manifested in a piece of legislation outright called the “Samsung Life Insurance Act” in reference to the company’s indemnification subsidiary. If the sitting parliament manages to enact this regulative, SLI would be forced to divest itself from Samsung Electronics, still the flagship division of the conglomerate. Even after a major selloff the proposal itself prompted, SLI still owns the equivalent of almost $17 billion in Samsung Electronics and is an important cog in the machine allowing Lee to retain tight control of Samsung Group.

Then there’s the continued challenge of doing business in this new stay-at-home economy – or what remains of the old one. One silver lining for Samsung on this front is that the novel coronavirus pandemic prompted an innovation boost at its B2B division. But all things considered, you know business has been bad when a global economic crash over a highly contagious disease just barely makes it into your top three annual risks.

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Samsung’s lifestyle TV for outdoors, The Terrace, is available in Europe

Samsung added The Terrace to its lifestyle TV lineup earlier this year to complement existing models like The Sero and The Frame. Months after the original announcement, The Terrace is finally available in Germany in three different sizes and for three different prices starting at 3,898 euro.

What sets The Terrace apart from Samsung’s other TVs is that it was built primarily for outdoor use, hence the moniker. It has an IP55 rating for dust and water resistance and it can withstand temperatures between -30 and +50 degrees Celsius.

4K QLED technology and up to 4,000 nits of brightness

Its robust build aside, The Terrace offers a premium viewing experience thanks to its QLED 4K display that has an average brightness of 2,000 nits and peak brightness levels of 4,000 nits. Visibility is key in outdoor conditions so brightness is constantly adapted through Adaptive Picture Technology.

Sound is equally important and The Terrace ships with its own soundbar. It was designed for outdoor acoustics and like the TV itself, the soundbar carries its own IP55 ingress rating. Both the TV and the soundbar can be controlled using the same Wi-Fi/Bluetooth remote.

The Terrace is available in Germany in sizes of 55, 65, and 75 inches. The 55-inch model is being sold for 3,898 euro while the 75-inch variant costs 6,335 euro. The medium-sized 65-inch The Terrace will set you back 4,872 euro. Check the links below if you’re looking for more details.

• Buy The Terrace, 55-inch, from Samsung Germany
• Buy The Terrace, 65-inch, from Samsung Germany
• Buy The Terrace, 75-inch, from Samsung Germany

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Samsung diversifying Galaxy Z Fold 2 production with Brazil, Vietnam

With an expected price of $2,000, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 isn’t exactly destined to make waves in emerging markets such as Brazil. But in a way, it’s likely to do just that after Samsung decided to diversify the production of its second-generation foldable flagship. According to a new report from the Far East, the Seoul-based tech giant is shifting a major portion of the Galaxy Z Fold 2 production to its Brazilian factory, which will begin manufacturing the device next month. While the final decision on the matter happened only now, the move was likely on the cards for a while now, especially in light of Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s recent visit to the company’s Brazilian operations.

The significance of that gesture cannot be overstated given Lee’s indifference to Latin America over the last two decades.

Samsung to make $1 billion on Galaxy Z Fold 2 sales in Q4 2020

Another big chunk of Galaxy Z Fold 2 production – about 20% of it – will go to Samsung’s Vietnamese lines, industry insiders claim. That’s roughly 150,000 units, whereas the company’s overall plan is to manufacture between 700,000 and 800,000 of Galaxy Z Fold 2 models by the end of the year. Its domestic plants are expected to handle the majority of the remaining orders, much like they led the flow production of the seminal Galaxy Fold.

All of this is a pretty big indication that foldables are maturing at a steady pace because for such a major reshape of their mass-manufacture structure to happen, Samsung must already be heavily focused on optimizing profit margins. Which likely wouldn’t be a priority if the demand for the product wasn’t surging. While foldable smartphones are still a relatively nascent market, Galaxy Z Fold 2 Q4 sales are projected to be in the ballpark of 500,000. That’s $1 billion in added revenue for Samsung – not bad for an emerging product category with a historically steep barrier to entry. Not to mention all of the other difficulties 2020 had to throw the global economy’s way, which hurt Samsung as much as any other international conglomerate.

Officially unveiled on August 5th, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 will get its full-fledged announcement tomorrow, as part of the so-called Galaxy Unpacked Part 2 event. Samsung’s latest high-end Android smartphone will almost certainly hit the store shelves in the second half of September following a brief pre-order period.

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Samsung Cloud gets its final expiration date as Microsoft rejoices

Samsung has been in the process of winding down its consumer cloud service for a while now, but it wasn’t until today that it detailed this effort to any meaningful extent. More specifically, the company confirmed Samsung Cloud file synchronization will be coming to an end on June 21st, 2021. The option of synchronizing your images and videos directly from the Gallery app will be going away much sooner than that, however. The Netherlands, for example, is losing it on October 5th, but pretty much every market will be affected this fall.

Users only have until April 1st to migrate their data to OneDrive, whereas the final 10 weeks will only allow them to manually download their data, after which Samsung Cloud servers will be shutting down for good, thus concluding the move that started with One UI 2.1 based on Android 10 earlier this year.

The death of Samsung Cloud a huge boon to Microsoft

Naturally, the sunset of Samsung Cloud will also spell an end to its My Files integration, with all of its synchronization capabilities being discontinued in favor of OneDrive (though Google Drive sync in My Files is still an option). All of this is part of a larger strategy shift that saw Samsung pull the plug on many of its software initiatives after concluding it would be more cost-effective to pursue key partnerships like the one with Microsoft’s OneDrive team.

Samsung’s gradual software downsizing is already so advanced that the company is reportedly even considering canceling SDC 2020. Of course, the ongoing health concerns are a major point of consideration as well. In the meantime, make sure your Gallery and My Files backups are reuploaded to OneDrive by going to the settings page of either app and tapping the Sync with OneDrive or OneDrive option.

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Galaxy S20 Ultra’s problematic camera autofocus should qualify it for refunds

The Galaxy S20 Ultra has the ultimate camera specs on paper, but we all know that the real-life experience is far from perfect. I am talking about the S20 Ultra’s camera autofocus issues, of course. Samsung’s shift to a 108MP camera sensor for its top-of-the-line flagships this year came at the cost of the camera’s focusing capabilities. The 108MP camera uses standard phase detection autofocus, which is a considerable step down from the Dual Pixel autofocus that Samsung has been using for flagship phone cameras since 2016.

But, somehow, the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s phase detection autofocus performs worse than that tech actually should. In fact, Samsung’s $1400 phone had more issues with focusing on the subject than many mid-range Galaxy devices, until the company ironed out the kinks with multiple software updates. But it’s still not perfect and probably never will be. Video recording is where the Galaxy S20 Ultra falters most, with repeated loss of focus while you’re shooting a video and visibly slow focus switching between different parts of the scene, and it all feels embarrassingly bad for a device that costs as much as the S20 Ultra does.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra more or less doesn’t have those issues thanks to its laser sensor, and after using it these last few weeks, I really feel Samsung should be offering refunds to Galaxy S20 Ultra owners or at least letting them replace their phone with the Note 20 Ultra without charging them anything for it.

Galaxy S20 Ultra owners are stuck with crappy autofocus until they upgrade

The reason is simple: Unless you change phones often, you will be using the Galaxy S20 Ultra and its problematic camera for a couple of years. I understand not every smartphone can be perfect, but in Samsung’s case, it really seems like improper testing is the reason why it’s messing up so often these days. We’ve talked about this before: When you’re making three flagship devices a year (four if you count the Galaxy Z Flip), you’re reducing the time you can spend on testing those devices. Or Samsung is simply not being as meticulous as it should be, or it wouldn’t have tried to get away with selling a foldable phone without testing it in the real world and hoping customers wouldn’t notice.

If Samsung had been upfront with us that its new ‘Ultra’ flagship offers fantastic zooming capabilities but can’t get something as basic as autofocus right, I wouldn’t complain too much. But the company misled us by keeping quiet about it. Or if the Fold’s initially botched design is any indication, Samsung’s engineers probably didn’t even know the S20 Ultra had focus troubles until it started selling the phone and reports started coming in.

Of course, what’s done is done, and there’s no fixing the Galaxy S20 Ultra’s underlying hardware issues, not without a recall anyway. But maybe Samsung can set things right by letting Galaxy S20 Ultra owners trade in their phone for a Note 20 Ultra free of charge, get a full refund, or perhaps announce that they will be able to replace their phone with the Galaxy S21 Ultra next year without paying a dime? Yeah, I know that’s not something the company will do, especially given the financial duress it’s under because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a guy can wish, right?

Do you have issues with your Galaxy S20 Ultra camera’s autofocus, or are you okay with how it performs? Does the idea of a no-charge replacement or a refund sound good to you? Let me know down in the comments!

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Samsung finally launches 980 Pro, its first PCIe 4.0 NVMe consumer SSD

After unveiling its first consumer-grade PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD at CES 2020 eight months ago, Samsung is finally launching it. Three storage variants of the 980 Pro SSD is now listed on Samsung Singapore’s website. It is available in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB versions. The new SSDs were approved by the NRRA two months ago.

The 980 Pro SSD promises sequential read speeds of up to 7,000MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 5,000MB/s. However, it should be noted that a computer is required to feature a PCIe 4.0 slot to achieve those read and write speeds. Currently, only PCs using AMD’s Ryzen 3000 series CPUs with X570 chipset motherboard feature PCIe 4.0 slots. Intel is expected to launch its 11th Gen. Core processors later this year with PCIe 4.0 compatibility.

Samsung is using the Elpsis controller in its 980 Pro SSDs and supports random read/write IOPS of up to 1,000K. These devices also feature 1GB of LPDDR4 RAM for cache and V-NAND MLC 3-bit memory. With its new SSDs, the company will abandon its MLC memory that was used in its 970 EVO SSD devices.

With the help of the PCIe 4.0 standard, the company has been able to double the read and write performance compared to its previous-generation SSDs. That’s truly a generational leap forward. The South Korean firm has not announced the prices for its 980 Pro SSDs yet. However, the storage devices are expected to go on sale in various markets around the world shortly.

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Samsung’s battery manufacturing arm to continue R&D investment to bag more orders

Samsung SDI will continue to invest more in research and development so that it can drive growth and bag more orders in the future. The company is expected to invest a total of $678 million in 2020 for R&D, its highest annual investment ever. Samsung’s battery-making unit is preparing itself for the electric vehicle era with its continued investments.

According to the company’s previous reports, Samsung SDI invested $424 million in 2017, $508 million in 2018, and $601 million in 2019. This indicates that the company’s investment for research and development rose 60% in just three years. Samsung SDI has already invested $347 in R&D this year, pointing towards a total investment to reach $678 million by the end of 2020.

The company wants to develop its electric vehicle battery business as the growth engine for the future. Most of its R&D investments have been used in the development of next-generation batteries for electric vehicles. It is preparing for the mass production of fifth-generation batteries that have 88 percent nickel content based on high-nickel cathode material. This battery offers longer range and lower cost compared to previous generation batteries.

Samsung SDI began drawing attention in the international industry in 2016 after it introduced a battery that offers up to 600km of range for electric cars. In 2017, it displayed a battery that provided a range of up to 500km after just 20 minutes of charging. Recently, the company has been busy developing solid-state batteries that are being considered as a game-changer. Samsung has been in talks with Hyundai to offer batteries for the automobile brand’s future electric cars.

The battery making firm also invested in the construction of a smart battery factory in Cheonan where sensors and AI mechanisms are used for improved control on the manufacturing process. Since 2017, when Jun Young-Hyun was appointed as the president, the company has emphasized technology management and to offer the best quality and safety in the industry.

 

 

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