Rite of Passage ⇥ blogs.wsj.com

Remember how Apple issued an apology for its warranty process in China? Seems like the rite of passage for success in that country is being taken by Samsung. Here’s Paul Mozur, with the Wall Street Journal:

Samsung apologized to Chinese consumers Wednesday, offering free repair and extended warranty on some smartphone models following a broadcast on CCTV Tuesday where China’s state-run media singled out the Korean electronics maker for a problem with the memory chips in some models of its phones, including the Galaxy Note. The report then detailed how the problem was not covered by Samsung’s warranty and often cost users well over $100 to fix.

So, to summarize:

1. Non-Chinese company begins to be successful in China;
2. State broadcaster CCTV tries to find some fault or irregularity with that company’s products;
3. The company issues an apology; and,
4. The company is now “blessed” to sell products in China.

Bizarre.