LG Display employees charged with stealing OLED tech from Samsung

The eleven people arrested on suspicion of illicitly selling OLED technology from Samsung have now been charged with theft. LG Display has confirmed to the AP that six of its own employees are among the accused, along with three from Samsung Display, but denied any wrongdoing on their behalf. We previously heard that OLED technology was being secretly sold to “a rival local firm,” but Samsung now characterizes the incident by saying that LG “systematically stole its display technology and poached Samsung employees.”

This obviously has deep implications for both companies, who were the first to announce large OLED TVs in January and will release 55-inch models later this year. While the two products use different technology in some respects, any behind-the-scenes collaboration could go some way to explaining the near-simultaneous reveal.