Samsung has asked South Korean authorities to step in after accusing its domestic rival LG Electronics of deliberately destroying four of its high-end washing machines on display at a Berlin store just ahead of the IFA.
The rivalry between two of Korea's biggest technology companies extends far beyond smartphones and wearable devices into the territory of home appliances. On Sunday, Samsung announced that it requested the Central District's Prosecutors' Office in South Korea to investigate a number of LG employees, including a high-profile executive, for allegedly destroying its Crystal Blue washing machines.
"It's very unfortunate that Samsung had to request that a high-ranking executive be investigated by the nation's legal authorities, but this was inevitable, as we concluded that we had to get to the bottom of this incident," says Samsung in a statement.
Earlier this month, an electronics store clerk in Berlin alerted the local police about LG employees who allegedly sabotaged four of the $2,700 washing machines. LG confirmed the incident, saying that the employees were "researchers" and that there was no intention to damage the washing machines on purpose, putting the blame back on Samsung for making washing machines that are "weak in the hinges." The company also said it is common for executives to examine rivals' products during overseas visits, saying that the employees also checked out other companies' products.
Samsung did not mention who the high-profile executive was, but an LG spokesperson told Reuters that Jo Seong-jin, the company's president and chief executive of its home appliances division, was one of the employees included in the investigation. In response to LG's "weak hinges" claim, Samsung said LG was making "slanderous claims" about the quality of its products.
LG defended its executive, saying that if the company set out to intentionally damage Samsung's washing machines, it would not send out its executives to do the dirty deed.
"If our company had an intention to destroy products of a certain company to tarnish the image of the product, it would be commonsensical to not have our executives to directly carry out such acts," says LG in its own statement. "We hope that this incident is not an effort to tarnish our company, which is the global No. 1 maker of washing machines."
LG agreed to pay for the four damaged washing machines in response to mediation efforts by the German police. However, the company said it is responsible for only two of the damaged products.
The brouhaha over Samsung's washing machines is only the latest in a long-standing battle of home appliances between the two companies. In 2012, LG took to court its accusation that Samsung was damaging its brand after Samsung released advertisements about LG's refrigerator space. The two companies are also currently battling it out over curved OLED TV screens and curved smartphone displays.
Last year, Samsung made as much as four times the revenue of LG, but LG has been catching up with its LG G3 flagship smartphone. Sales of the G3 propelled LG's second-quarter profits into two times as much as the same period of last year, while Samsung's dismal Galaxy S5 sales contributed to a dip in the company's bottom line after three consecutive years of increasing profits.
