South Korea’s antitrust watchdog said Monday it had fined KT Corp., the country’s top fixed-line operator, 2.08 billion won ($2 million) for forcing an unjust contract on a local electronics manufacturer.
According to the FTC, KT placed orders for 200,000 units with an initial production of 30,000 units of a low-end tablet PC, named the K-PAD, in 2010 from Enspert. KT was hurrying to release the product in the market before SK Telecom, its industry rival in the mobile carrier business, released Samsung’s tablets.
When sales of the K-PADs were sluggish, KT unilaterally canceled the remaining orders in March 2011, claiming that Enspert had failed to resolve defects in the devices. KT also consistently changed its criteria to make it harder for Enspert’s products to meet its demands, the watchdog said.
KT nullified the contract by slipping in a clause in another contract with Enspert that said the orders for the remaining tablet PCs were void, the FTC said.
KT said it will file lawsuits to appeal the FTC’s decision, claiming that Enspert’s tablet PCs had “critical” defects in hardware such as the cameras and Global Positioning System features. (Yonhap)
