Nokia sued a number of LCD manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and LG Display, alleging the companies colluded to fix LCD prices during a period of around 11 years. The suit comes on the heels of a similar one AT&T filed in October.
Overall, Nokia filed suit against 11 companies, alleging they raised "the price of LCDs above the price that would have prevailed in a competitive market" from at least Jan. 1, 1996 through Dec. 11, 2006. Nokia used the LCDs in its mobile phones. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in San Francisco, also said Nokia "suffered damages as a result ... and is entitled to treble damages and injunctive relief to remedy these injuries."
AT&T's suit, filed in the same court and against many of the same companies, also alleged the LCD makers engaged in price fixing for displays for mobile phones. Both of the lawsuits cite a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into LCD price fixing. In 2008, Chunghwa Picture Tubes, LG Display and Sharp--which were named in Nokia's suit--plead guilty to U.S. charges of price fixing and agreed to pay $585 million in criminal fines.
For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- see this Bloomberg article
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