Samsung Display researcher nabbed for selling trade secrets to China's OLED industry

Samsung Display researcher nabbed for selling trade secrets to China’s OLED industry،

A Samsung Display employee has been arrested in South Korea for industrial espionage for China’s OLED panel industry. The individual allegedly transferred knowledge worth up to $300 million to his own company and then to China, The Elec reports, citing local prosecutors. The 49-year-old worked for 10 years in Samsung Display’s OLED production equipment department, responsible for its revolutionary manufacturing methods that allowed it to stay ahead of the curve with each passing OLED generation.

So much so that Apple recently had to resort to Samsung’s iPhone panels again, after the other OLED screen companies it constantly tries to diversify its supply chain with fell flat in terms of yield and quality .

After the researcher transferred new OLED display technology, such as excimer laser annealing equipment or a way to optically clean resin inkjet machines, between 2018 and May 2020, they left Samsung and are went to work for an OLED panel manufacturer in China.

Chinese phones have made strides in display quality and innovation over the past few years, to the point where they are the first to market with per-unit factory display calibration or even foldable phone hinges in teardrop shape that almost eliminates the interior crease of the main panel.

Not to mention their early adoption of LTPO OLED display technology, which allowed them to introduce dynamic refresh rates and ultra-bright panels before anyone else, even Samsung.

Regardless, the former Samsung employee voluntarily returned to South Korea from China to face industrial espionage charges. The person was actually a member of a team of researchers who worked for Samsung and helped transfer OLED display production secrets to a company in South Korea and China.

They have already been tried and convicted, while he fled to China and prosecutors began their investigation into his actions after being tipped off by Korean intelligence.