Better wait for Apple’s iPhone 5 before giving in to the temptation of laying your paws on the Samsung Galaxy III. This is a message directly from the horse’s mouth – okay, not quite the horse (i.e., Apple), but still a reliable stablemate (i.e., Foxconn, the company manufacturing Apple’s devices).

Apparently, according to a number of news reports floating around in China, Taiwan and now elsewhere as well, Terry Gou, the CEO of Hon Hai Precision Industry (better known as Foxconn) made some rather bold statements at his company’s recent AGM.

Gou was quoted in 'The China Times' as saying (translated) the iPhone 5 would put the Galaxy S III to shame. Adding spice to ice cream were his comments referring to Samsung as “a company with a track record of snitching on its competitors,” in a not-too-veiled allusion to a Tawainese flat panel price-fixing scandal from a couple years back.

A report from Focus Taiwan which translated a report in The China Times said: “Gou said he has made it a lifetime goal to defeat Samsung — ‘a company with a track record of snitching on its competitors.’ He was referring to Samsung’s action in 2010 of snitching on four Taiwanese companies in an investigation by the European Commission on price-fixing in the flat panel industry. A total fine of €433.92 million was subsequently imposed to the four Taiwanese firms [while] Samsung was exempted from the investigation by serving as a ‘tainted witness.’ Gou also urged consumers to wait for the launch of Apple's iPhone 5, saying that the new model will put Samsung's Galaxy III to shame.”

Gou also confirmed a joint venture deal with Japan’s Sharp Corp last week, and said that the alliance with the Japanese company will allow Foxconn to beat Samsung Electronics in three to five years.

The new partnership will help Foxconn upgrade its competitiveness in the cut-throat display panel business, in addition to gaining ownership of the Taiwanese flat-panel maker Chimei Innolux Corp. With Foxconn’s marketing and manufacturing strengths and Sharp’s key technologies, the two will be able to defeat their arch-rival Samsung, the chairman said.

“I respect the Japanese and especially like their execution and communication styles,” Gou said, “Unlike the Koreans, they will not hit you from behind,” he added.

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