LCD makers probed for price fixing

Several LCD makers are facing new regulatory probes in the US, Japan, and Korea for anti-competitive practices. Samsung, Sharp, NEC, AU Optronics, LG Phillips, and Chi Mei Optoelectronics are all being examined for allegedly working together to fix prices on LCDs in order to combat falling prices.

Japan's Fair Trade Commission, Korea's Fair Trade Commission, and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) are heading up the investigations. The first to disclose the investigation were LG Phillips and Samsung, who had received subpoenas in the US, Japan, and South Korea last week. Samsung told Ars that the probe is related to activities in the thin-film transistor (TFT) LCD market, which are used in nearly everything from televisions to laptops to cell phones. Other companies involved in the LCD market, such as Sony and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co, told IDG that they have not been contacted.

The companies are being investigated for allegedly curbing their output for the purpose of keeping LCD prices from falling too quickly, something that has been a great concern for some electronics manufacturers as of late. Sony's president Stan Glasgow told reporters last week that prices for LCD televisions will drop 25 to 30 percent this year, a more drastic drop than the company had anticipated. Glasgow indicated that such a trend could hurt the industry, but that such drastic cuts may not last. "LCDs will continue to experience heavy price erosion, but not at this level," he observed.

Samsung pleaded guilty to pricefixing DRAM sales from 1999-2002 and received a fine of $300 million from the DOJ in return. They were recently subpoenaed again this October for pricefixing SRAM, along with Mitsubishi, Sony, Toshiba, and Cypress Semiconductor. Despite this uncomfortable pattern, in a statement sent to Ars Technica, Samsung told Ars that the company is "strongly committed to fair competition and ethical practices, and forbids anticompetitive behavior," while pledging "full cooperation" with the inevstigation." Sharp, LG Phillips, AU Optronics, and Chi Mei Optoelectronics did not respond to requests for comment.

:source: Source: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061212-8406.html