Yesterday, twenty heavily armed robbers descended upon a large Samsung facility north of Sao Paulo. By using two workers they'd taken hostage, the thieves subdued security at the plant before comprehensively looting the place clean of finished goods in three hours of sustained theft. No one was harmed.
Though insured, Samsung said they were "very worried" about the incident.
In total police suspect that 20 robbers participated, carting out more than 40,000 finished products in seven trucks in the early hours of Monday. Samsung said it was still trying to find out how much money it had lost.
Given this is the latest (and largest) in a long line of Brazilian tech robberies, is optimism about the nation being the new Silicon Valley misplaced?
(Score: 2) by AnonTechie on Tuesday July 08 2014, @08:55PM
I am sure these products will soon be on sale. Maybe the police could carry out a sting operation and recover the items.
Albert Einstein - "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
(Score: 2) by present_arms on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:04PM
If they have any sense they will sit on them for a while, meanwhile Samsung looks through the inventory clock the IMEI (of those with cell capabilities) and send an OTA update and that should sort the phones and some of the tablets.
http://trinity.mypclinuxos.com/
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @10:03PM
For how long of a while? New phones come out all the time. I'd think they would be hard to get rid of if the robbers waited too long.
(Score: 2) by tynin on Tuesday July 08 2014, @11:24PM
And if they REALLY had a clue, they had a single buyer lined up in advance of this heist who can then go on to flip these products on some other continent. It would be a huge hassle in just arranging the shipping of 40,000 individual items I have to imagine they have some other plans than ebay. Perhaps they even have a storefront in a neighboring country that suddenly has come into fresh stock at low prices? Anything is better than individually shipping these out to tens of thousands of customers.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Dunbal on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:01PM
This is where I choose to live. How does that saying go? Oh yeah - he who would sacrifice liberty for security deserves neither. Well there you go. Brazil is a quite free country. You guys need to bear this in mind in the finance office when some bright spark says "hey let's move the whole thing to Brazil and save on payroll/manufacturing costs". Fair enough? Frankly I enjoy living in the 3rd world and not having oppressive government down my throat - but the downside is yeah, shit happens sometimes. It's always a trade off. I'm sure this wouldn't happen in the US or the perpetrators would be quickly caught but - do you want to pay 5 times as much for your electronics? The market seems to want to say no.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:31PM
Does corruption suits you better than oppression?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:59PM
Yes. So I have to make a little contribution to get some documents faster once in a while. Big deal. Also, explain to me how your government is not corrupt. To its core.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday July 08 2014, @10:36PM
I changed my country of residence because of that - life's too short, too much time wasted in "contributing": the "society cogs" move as slow as they can, waiting for everyone to grease them.
Aren't you relying on an unverified assumption here? (e.g. that I'd be living in a certain country?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Tuesday July 08 2014, @11:07PM
I think {not my country} is good enough. Corruption is world-wide, be it some secretary taking a $10 to put a rubber stamp on a document to a congressman requiring campaign contributions to vote on a bill to a parliament member voting the way the local crime boss wants him to vote to the party leader having stabbed and killed his way to the top - corruption is a fact of humanity not geography. All that differs is how and how much.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 09 2014, @04:23AM
(Score: 2) by krishnoid on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:34PM
Frankly I enjoy living in the 3rd world and not having oppressive government down my throat
So the movie Brazil [imdb.com] doesn't refer to comparable events that take place there? Or maybe the situation has changed? I'm not clear how accurately the (albeit fictional) movie is intended to reflect the social environment there.
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Tuesday July 08 2014, @10:04PM
Dunno, I haven't seen the movie and I don't live in Brazil. But just looking at the publication date, er dude 1985 was 30 years ago. I doubt any latin country is still stuck that far in the past. The world has caught up to the US very quickly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 09 2014, @12:15AM
He was making a joke, Admiral Aspergers. Jesus fuck...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 09 2014, @12:18AM
Can't tell if serious... Please tell me you're being sarcastic..,
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @10:08PM
You know, its possible for a country to be neither oppressive nor crime-ridden. Its not like our choices are "be oppressed or deal with constant crime that nobody cares enough to solve" like you're trying to suggest.
(Score: 2) by EvilJim on Wednesday July 09 2014, @12:56AM
that sounds like a country that has no inhabitants.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 09 2014, @01:28PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:15PM
Oh no how many factories is a brazilian?
(Score: 1) by bibendumsn on Wednesday July 09 2014, @09:43PM
No idea, but I hear the assembly line is very smooth.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 09 2014, @09:52PM
Well, none. They've all been ripped off.
I'll get my coat...
(Score: 3, Informative) by DECbot on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:22PM
tl;dr Yes.
Deveoping countries are like the bug zapper lights for manufacturing capital. Yes, you can build cheaper in these countries if you're able to find a community and culture that is receptive to your process and find good translators to pass along engineering concepts. However, developing countries are like the old wild west where your safety is not always guarantied. Unstable governments, lawlessness, infrastructure, currency exchange rates, etc. are all common risks of the developing world that I perceive the executive level PHBs are blind to when destracted by the bright blue, bug zapping light that promises higher profits because of lower manufacturing costs due to wages and less regulation. And besides, when the executive PHBs vacation to said developing countriy, they had a might good time and the locals treated them well, so it can't be that risky.
...and please forgive my spelling mistakes as I'm typing on a smart phone while holding kids.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:28PM
Lucky you... still fresh enough not to attempt typing on a kid while holding smartphones.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by Balderdash on Wednesday July 09 2014, @01:23PM
Unfortunately children are not implicitly typed. Little chaotic bastards, the lot of them.
I browse at -1. Free and open discourse requires consideration and review of all attempts at participation.
(Score: 1) by daver!west!fmc on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:53PM
It's not like this sort of thing doesn't happen around the old Sillycon Valley once in a while. Look into what happened at Unigen's facility in Fremont, CA, USA in February 2011.
(Score: 2) by Taibhsear on Wednesday July 09 2014, @02:34PM
Hell, this sort of thing even happens in Canada [nytimes.com] of all places.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Tuesday July 08 2014, @09:54PM
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by Squidious on Wednesday July 09 2014, @01:58PM
A friend invented a product that he initially manufactured in the U.S. As his business grew he built a small plant in Mexico to cut costs. After a few years and lots of headaches later he abandoned the Mexico operation. The local government and labor leaders were extorting him dry. He had to leave his equipment, he couldn't even pack it up and truck it off because of the shenanigans.
The terrorists have won, game, set, match. They've scared the people into electing authoritarian regimes.
(Score: 4, Funny) by SpockLogic on Tuesday July 08 2014, @10:02PM
They need the money to buy a new futbol team.
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 1) by maxim on Wednesday July 09 2014, @12:07AM
Yep, I guess 7 footballs is what the stolen good are worth of, and they got them returned.
(Score: 3, Funny) by JeanCroix on Wednesday July 09 2014, @04:14PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 08 2014, @10:37PM
...Not really sure.
Probably greed but could ultimately have been in desparation
as automation and computerization makes it more and more difficult
to survive in an industrualized, urbanized environment that
runs ON MONEY.
So big daringing robberies like this take place to generate the
cash to live off of...or start some sort of illegal empire such
as black market or (likely) an illegal drug trade.
(Score: 2) by tynin on Tuesday July 08 2014, @11:41PM
Indeed, but a big hit on a Mega Corp will have repercussions. This band of shadowrunners had best be on the lookout for the Samsung Internal Security Division. As they say, it is just Business and Business is War with long Shadows.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Bob9113 on Tuesday July 08 2014, @11:46PM
Given this is the latest (and largest) in a long line of Brazilian tech robberies, is optimism about the nation being the new Silicon Valley misplaced?
In Brazil's "new Silicon Valley" twenty robbers make off with an average of $300k worth of merchandise each, probably net $50k - $100k each after its fenced, don't physically harm anyone -- bad for the economy, clearly a crime, but hardly devastating. Put that up against our original Silicon Valley where robber barons are taking home millions, or even billions, every year, by pilfering people's personal data, performing mass psychological experiments [slashdot.org], and ramping up the first major computer aided psychological operation [slashdot.org] to push for more indentured servants via H1Bs -- and facing exactly zero legal liability.
I'm not saying Brazil is the new Silicon Valley, but if robbers are the measure you're using, I'll take the Brazilian kind.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 09 2014, @05:50AM
6.3 mil? When I used to work on truck software a 10 million dollar load going 'away' was common. You help recover 1-2 of those trucks and the system paid for itself. A load of cigs can be worth more and has wheels and something to haul it away with.
How much is a backhoe worth? A *LOT*. They go 'away' all the time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 09 2014, @01:28PM
Don't like to the green tinted past douche bag.