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Samsung, Toshiba, Others Accused of LCD Price-Fixing

Posted by kdawson on from the just-happened-to-be-in-the-same-hotel dept.

GovTechGuy writes "Toshiba, Samsung, Sharp, LG and other major technology companies allegedly colluded to fix the prices of LCD screens used in televisions and computers, according to an antitrust suit filed Friday by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The complaint alleges that top-level executives at those firms attended secret meetings on a monthly or quarterly basis where they agreed upon minimum prices, price targets, increases and rates to be charged to specific computer manufacturers. The suit also accuses the companies of exchanging product information, agreeing to output levels and keeping prices artificially high by avoiding competition. Cuomo is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and punitive charges for the alleged overcharging of state institutions."

3 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Its always interesting to see these allegations by Pharmboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    RTFA, it covers 1996 to 2006, a time when prices were still pretty damn high. I know, I have a $600 20" monitor from that era.

    --
    Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
  2. Again? by unburleyvable · · Score: 5, Informative

    Are they at it again? Apparently it's worth it! ... 2008 - http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/08/11/12/215212/3-Firms-Confess-To-Fixing-LCD-Prices-Agree-To-Pay-585M-Fine ... 2009 - http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/03/11/2228206/Hitachi-Fined-31-Million-For-LCD-Price-Fixing http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/12/12/0114248/860-Million-In-Fines-Handed-Out-For-LCD-Price-Fixing

  3. Re:Not enough by Moryath · · Score: 5, Informative

    (1) That's unconstitutional. The New York Constitution does not grant such a power as "price fixing".

    The court could certainly order that they retain only a certain percentage markup on their products for a given time, to be verified with inspectors double-checking their books.

    (2) There's no need for such extremes. When the record companies were caught price-fixing CDs (thereby forming an illegal cartel), they were ordered by the courts to refund ~$25 to all their customers, so that erased any illicit profits they had earned.

    You're joking right? That settlement was a COMPLETE FRAUD. Customers who had bought 5-6 dozen music CD's over a decade, at $10+ overcharge per CD, were ripped off with a measly $25 voucher to BUY MORE OVERPRICED PRODUCT. The MafiAA companies pocketed the rest, flipped the bird at the artists they regularly rip off, and laughed at how fucking stupid our legal system is.

    (3) And then the free market was left to its own devices, and the cost of CDs plummeted from $13 to $9 within a year, since the cartel was no longer allowed to operate. The same will happen to LCDs too, after the price-fixing cartel is broken-up.

    Have you seen the prices lately? Pretty fucking uniform - Walmart, Bestbuy, Amazon, all seem to have exactly the same price (or somewhere within 50 cents of each other) on every goddamn CD again, and new releases are hovering steadily around $18. It sounds more like the MafiAA cartel laid low for a few years and went right back to their old tricks again.