Nokia files price-fixing suit against 11 LCD makers

Dylan Bushell-Embling | December 02, 2009

telecomseurope.net

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Nokia has filed suit against 11 LCD display makers, alleging they colluded on prices for more than a decade.

The civil suits – which target LG, Toshiba, Sharp, Samsung and other vendors - complement international criminal investigations into the price-setting claims in both the US and the EU, a Nokia spokesperson told AP. The suits have been filed in the US and Britain.

In the court filings, Nokia alleges that the vendors raised charges for LCD displays “above the price that would have prevailed in a competitive market.” The price collusion is alleged to have occurred over the period between January 1, 1996, and December 11, 2006.

The handset maker is seeking an unspecified sum in the form of “treble damages and injunctive relief,” the WSJ reported.

The other companies named in the suit are Philips, AU Optronics, Hitachi Displays, Samsung SDI, Seiko, Chunghwa Picture Tubes and Tatung.

AT&T in October filed a similar suit against Samsung, LG and AU Optronics.

Since 2008, LG, Sharp, Chunghwa and Hitachi have pleaded guilty of conspiring to fix LCD panel prices after an investigation by the US Justice Department. The parties paid a combined US$585 million (€387m) in criminal fines.

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telecomseurope.net

Dylan Bushell-Embling

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