Samsung apologizes to China customers for mobile phone glitches

Samsung Electronics has apologized to China consumers for problems with some of its mobile phones, following a TV program on state-owned media criticizing its repair policies.

"As far as management problems caused inconvenience to our customers, we offer our sincere apologies," said the South Korean company in a statement on its site on Wednesday.

The 25-minute program was broadcast by CCTV late on Monday, according to Reuters. CCTV had claimed internal multimedia cards had caused the software on Samsung Electronics Note and S series smartphones to hang.
In the statement, Samsung added it would fix the Galaxy S3 and Note 2 devices for free, and give refunds for earlier repairs at authorized service centers. Replacements or refunds would be given for phones that could not be fixed, noted Reuters.
The program singling out Samsung comes just a day after CCTV broadcast another one criticizing Starbucks for charging higher prices in China than other markets, added the report.

Earlier in March, Apple CEO Tim Cook bowed to similar pressure to apologize to Chinese consumers following criticism from local media. This involved its use of less-than-adequate repair and warranty policy on its products compared to other countries. On Wednesday, Apple made another indication of the Chinese market's importance with its inclusion in the first wave of countries for the launch of the new iPad Air.