Samsung issued an apology to Chinese consumers on Wednesday after China's state-run media criticized the Korean electronics giant for selling handsets with allegedly faulty memory chips.
The company offered to provide free repairs and extended warranties on seven models after a broadcast on the influential China Central Televisionon Tuesday reported how Samsung handsets, including the Galaxy S andGalaxy Noteseries, crash several times a day due to the memory chips. The report said the issue could be resolved with a $100 chip upgrade that was not covered under current warranties.
In a statementposted to Samsung's China Web site, the electronics giant apologized for the inconvenience, which it blamed on "management problems." It also pledged to repair affected devices, refunds on previously-repaired devices, and replacement handsets in some cases.
Samsung is not the first tech coming to come under CCTV scrutiny for its warranty practices. In April, Apple CEO Tim Cook issued an apologyover its warranty policies in China and promised improved services. The initial report claimed Apple repaired only broken or otherwise faulty parts within its products for customers in China, versus providing new replacements in other countries.
Cook's apology came during Apple's continuing efforts to land an iPhone distribution dealwith the world's largest mobile carrier. Support from China Mobile, which has about 745 million customers, would open up a vast number of new customers for Apple.
Meanwhile, Samsung hopes its apology goes a long way toward helping it maintain its lead position in China's smartphone market. The company sold 30 million devices in the country last year for a 17.7 percent market share, outpacing the 11 percent share commanded by No. 3 Apple.
据美国科技网站CNET报道，在中国官方媒体公开批评韩国电子产品巨头向中国销售内存芯片存在问题的手机后，10月30日周三，三星向中国消费者道歉。
在中国最具影响力的中央电视台29日报道了包括型号为Galaxy S 和Galaxy Note系列的三星手机因内存芯片问题导致一天内多次死机之后，三星公司提出对七款机型提供免费维修服务并延长其保修期。该报道指出，能够解决这些问题的 价值100美元的升级芯片并不包含在当前的保修中。
在三星中国网站上的一份声明中，这家电子产品巨头为大家造成的不便给予道歉，并将之归咎于“管理问题”。它同时保证对受到影响的设备进行维修，退回之前的维修费用，并会在一些情况下更换手机。
三星并不是第一个因保修问题而受到中央电视台监督的企业。今年四月，苹果首席执行官蒂姆•库克因苹果公司的保修政策不合理而做出道歉并承诺改善服务。之前的报道称，在中国苹果公司只为客户维修有损坏或有其他问题的手机零件，而在其他国家却对其提供更换手机服务。
库克做出道歉之时，是苹果公司继续努力与世界上最大的移动运营商达成iPhone销售协议之时。因为有了中国手机市场74.5亿消费者的支持，这将为苹果公司开发一大批新的消费者。
同时，三星希望通过它的道歉能有助于维持其在中国智能手机市场的主导地位。2012年，三星在中国销售了3000万台设备，市场占有率达到17.7%，大大超过了由第三位的苹果所持有的11%市场占有率。