Samsung Electronics has been sanctioned by the Fair Trade Commission for unfair management interference with its dealerships.
On the 10th, the Fair Trade Commission announced that it decided to impose corrective orders on Samsung Electronics for requesting sales amount information, which constitutes trade secrets, from dealerships without reasonable grounds.
According to the Fair Trade Commission, from January 2017 to September 2023, Samsung Electronics required dealerships to input sales amount information for home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and air conditioners supplied to them into a computer system operated by Samsung Electronics.
Customers visiting the Samsung Digital Plaza Hongdae Main Store in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 16th, the pre-order start date for Samsung Electronics' new foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Galaxy Z Flip4, are experiencing the phones. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@
Sales amount information is considered trade secret information because if provided to the headquarters, the dealership’s margin is exposed, potentially placing the dealership at a disadvantage in future supply price negotiations with the headquarters.
The Fair Trade Commission judged that Samsung Electronics’ actions constitute interference in management activities prohibited under Article 10, Paragraph 1 of the Act on Fair Transactions in Dealings with Agencies.
The Fair Trade Commission stated, "This measure is a case where the headquarters supplying home appliances was caught and sanctioned for unfairly interfering with the management activities of dealerships. We expect that this will lead to the eradication of headquarters requesting sales amount information, which is a trade secret of dealerships, thereby contributing to the establishment of a fair trading order between headquarters and dealerships."
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