Excluding LG, Samsung, TCL TVs Would Harm Consumers: Samsung

Granting DivX its requested exclusion order on LG, Samsung and TCL smart TVs “could negatively impact competitive conditions," commented Samsung in Friday’s posting (login required) in docket 337-3489 at the International Trade Commission. DivX Sept. 10 sought a Tariff Act Section 337 investigation on its allegations the TVs’ video processors infringe patents on adaptive bitrate streaming (see 2009160052). The significant TV market share that LG, Samsung and TCL collectively control, plus their “broad product offerings,” make it “very unlikely that any third parties would have the capacity to replace such a substantial percentage of the U.S. market, or that they could do so in a commercially reasonable time,” said Samsung. Statisa reported Wednesday the three brands make 58% of smart TVs sold in the U.S. Consumers may prefer a Samsung smart TV because it’s more compatible with other Samsung devices that support apps, enabling “easy streaming of content,” the manufacturer said. More and more streamed video is viewed on TV screens rather than mobile devices, “particularly during the pandemic,” it said. Smart TVs are “far more versatile” than DivX depicted when it described them as “simply devices for consumer entertainment,” said Samsung. “During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. when school districts were scrambling to devise remote learning on the fly, public television stations began providing at-home learning programs that aired in all 50 states. According to some, this initiative was the largest remote learning program in the U.S.”