Samsung investigates worker's death following chemical leak at chip plant

A chemical leak at a Samsung Electronics plant in South Korea has resulted in the death of a contract worker, while four others have been discharged from a hospital after treatment, the company said Monday.

Hydrofluoric acid leaked from a chemical supply system during a maintenance operation at Samsung's Hwaseong site, the company said. A service company sent the contract workers to deal with the problem, Samsung said.

"Sadly, one worker died due to complications," the company said in a statement offering condolences to the contractor's family.

The Hwaseong site, near Seoul, is home to one of the world's largest memory chip factories. Last June Samsung said it will invest almost US$2 billion in a new production line due to open there by the end of this year. The line will use 20-nanometer and 14nm production processes to make mobile application processors on 300 millimeter wafers.

Korean media reports said the leak, of about 10 liters of hydrofluoric acid from a tank with a capacity of 500 liters, began around 11 p.m. local time on Sunday.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the company delayed reporting the leak for up to 15 hours after it occurred.

Hydrofluoric acid is used to etch away silicon oxides in the manufacture of semiconductor wafers.

It is highly corrosive and can also dissolve glass and stainless steel. It burns exposed skin, and over-exposure to vapor or mist can cause tissue damage and death.

Samsung said the leak has been contained and that it will investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Peter Sayer covers open source software, European intellectual property legislation and general technology breaking news for IDG News Service. Send comments and news tips to Peter atpeter_sayer@idg.com.

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EC: Samsung may have abused FRAND patents

Samsung's efforts to seek injunctions against Apple for standards-essential patents in the mobile phone market may be an abuse of its dominant position and a violation of European Union antitrust rules, the European Commission said Friday.

The commission, in releasing a statement of objections to Samsung's patent conduct, said it was concerned that Samsung was seeking injunctions on patents where Apple is willing to negotiate a license on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms. The objections released Friday represent a preliminary position from the commission.

"Intellectual property rights are an important cornerstone of the single market," Joaquín Almunia, the commission's vice president for competition policy, said in a statement. "However, such rights should not be misused when they are essential to implement industry standards, which bring huge benefits to businesses and consumers alike."

Earlier in the week, as the commission readied its objections against Samsung, Samsung announced that it would withdraw all its injunctions against Apple in European countries.

Samsung gave a commitment in 1998 to license its patents considered essential to certain telecommunication standards on FRAND terms. However, Samsung filed several lawsuits in a number of European countries in 2011, asserting that some of its competitors' products, including Apple devices, infringed on patents it considered essential for mobile communications devices, and sought injunctions preventing distribution of the products in Europe.

Samsung said it was studying the commission's objections. The company "will firmly defend ourselves against any misconceived allegations," Samsung said in a statement provided by an outside public relations group. "Samsung is confident that in due course the Commission will conclude that we have acted in compliance with European Union competition laws."

The Samsung patents being examined by the commission relate to the European Telecommunications Standardisation Institute's (ETSI) 3G UMTS standard, an industry standard for mobile and wireless communications.

A statement of objections is a formal step in commission investigations. The commission informs the companies involved, the companies can reply in writing and request an oral hearing.

Grant Gross covers technology and telecom policy in the U.S. government for The IDG News Service. Follow Grant on Twitter at GrantGross. Grant's e-mail address is grant_gross@idg.com.

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Apple drops bid to add Samsung Galaxy S III Mini to patent lawsuit

Apple has dropped its patent-infringement accusations against the Galaxy S III Mini, a mid-market Android smartphone that Samsung Electronics says it is not selling in the U.S.

In a filing in the U.S. District Court for Northern California on Friday, Apple said it would withdraw its request to include the Galaxy S III Mini in a patent infringement case against Samsung that is set for trial in 2014. On Nov. 23, Apple had asked to add the Mini and five other recently released Samsung products to its complaint, which originally was filed in February. The case is one of many in an ongoing set of disputes between the two companies in several countries.

When Apple asked to add the Mini to its case, the phone was expected to be released in the U.S. soon. Samsung subsequently filed an opposition to that request in which the South Korean company said it was not selling the Mini in the U.S.

In its filing on Friday, Apple said the Mini apparently was available for sale in the country, because its attorneys had bought multiple Minis from Amazon.com's U.S. online store and successfully had them shipped to addresses in the U.S. The company also said it appeared the device was still on sale at Amazon on Wednesday.

However, Apple wrote that because Samsung had represented it wasn't "making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing the Galaxy S III Mini in the United States," it would drop the patent allegations against the Mini.

Apple's move may rely on Samsung staying true to its statement. Apple withdrew its allegations "without prejudice," reserving the right to make the accusations again "if the factual circumstances change."

Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com

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Samsung releases smaller, faster 64GB smartphone memory

Samsung on Thursday announced a new 64GB memory chip for smartphones and tablets, which it says is 20 percent smaller and a third faster than current technology.

The company said its new 64GB eMMC (embedded multimedia card) reads data sequentially at up to 260 megabytes per second and writes at up to 50 megabytes per second, 10 times faster than Class-10 rated external memory cards.

The chips are made using Samsung's 10-nanometer class fabrication, and the company said it began production late last month. Shrinking the size of components allows for more efficient manufacturing and parts that draw less power.

Smartphones with 64GB of memory are still relatively rare, and most phones have an external memory slot for more storage. High-speed data networks are also allowing more data to be stored online, although most high-definition content is still downloaded and viewed locally.

For phone manufacturers, adding more memory is a way to increase margins. Apple's top-end iPhone has 64GB of memory, and in the U.S. costs US$200 more than its 16GB version. Samsung recently released a version of its flagship Galaxy S3 with 64GB of built-in memory.

Samsung said the latest memory chip is called the "64GB eMMC Pro Class 2000," a level up from the current "Pro Class 1500" chips. The slower class reads data at up to 140 megabytes per second and writes it at up to 50 megabytes per second.

The new memory chip measures 11.5mm by 13mm, compared to 12mm by 16mm for previous iterations.

In September, Samsung announced a massive 128GB eMMC chip for smartphones and other mobile devices, which is expected to begin appearing in phones for next year. That chips is part of its Pro Class 1500 lineup.

The company said it can manufacture the latest chips on its existing factory lines used for previous generations of chips, making its operations more efficient.

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