Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

US states settle price-fixing claims with LCD makers

The seven companies have settled for over US$550 million with eight U.S. states

Seven Asian companies have come to a US$553 million settlement with several U.S. states in connection with charges of fixing prices of LCD (liquid crystal display) screens, thus pushing up the prices of computers, television sets and other electronics in which the panels were used.

Chimei Innolux, Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Epson Imaging Devices, HannStar Display, Hitachi Displays, Samsung Electronics, Sharp and certain affiliates agreed to pay over $538 million to settle antitrust claims brought on behalf of consumers, government entities, and other public entities by a group of eight attorneys general and private class action attorneys, according to a a statement on Tuesday from the office of New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman.

Separately, five of the companies agreed to pay over $14 million to settle civil fine and penalty law claims brought by the states in their law enforcement capacity, according to the statement.

Attorneys general of eight states including New York, Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, California, West Virginia and Wisconsin, as well as a class action brought on behalf of private claimants in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, joined in the settlements, according to a statement from the office of the California attorney general, Kamala D. Harris.

Under the agreements, the companies will pay up to $37 million to compensate government and other public entities for damages resulting from the purchase of TFT (thin film transistor) LCD panels. Up to $501 million will be available for partial refunds to compensate consumers residing in 24 states and the District of Columbia who purchased products containing TFT-LCD panels during the period from January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2006, according to the statement from the New York attorney general.

Samsung will have to pay the largest amount of $240 million in the settlement, according to details released by the Wisconsin department of justice.

The California case was originally filed in San Francisco Superior Court, where litigation continues against two AU Optronics and LG companies, and three Toshiba entities, said the office of the California attorney general. Litigation will also continue in Florida against non-settling defendants, including LG, Toshiba, and AU Optronics, said the office of Florida attorney general Pam Bondi. New York will also continue to pursue a lawsuit against three other corporations charged with participating in the cartel. 

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: AU Optronics, Chimei, Department of Justice, Epson, Hitachi, LG, Samsung, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Toshiba, West
References show all

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Coverage
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Tags: AU Optronics, Chimei InnoLux, Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Components, displays, Epson Imaging Devices, HannStar Display, Hitachi Dsiplays, legal, lg, Samsung Electronics, sharp, toshiba
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • CIO Executive Council ROI
    This document was created by Council CIOs as a means to illustrate ROI for membership. It outlines the services available to member CIOs and their deputies.
    Learn more »
  • Best Practices for Implementing a Data Warehouse on the Oracle Exadata Database Machine
    Increasingly companies are recognizing the value of an enterprise data warehouse (EDW). A true EDW provides a single 360-degree view of the business and a powerful platform for a wide spectrum of business intelligence tasks ranging from predictive analysis to near real-time strategic and tactical decision support throughout the organization. Ensuring the EDW will get the desired performance and will scale out as your data grows you need to get three fundamental things correct, the hardware configuration, the physical data model and the data loading process. Read on.
    Learn more »
  • Oracle Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing From Storage to Scorecard
    Getting actionable data in the hands of the right decision makers translates to positive business outcomes – whether that means competing more effectively, reducing operational costs, meeting compliance requirements, or anticipating changing market conditions. To get the right data to the right people at the right time, you need an integrated business intelligence and data warehousing solution that can provide fast access to reliable information and the tools to translate that insight into actions.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.