Hitachi Fined $31 Million For LCD Price Fixing 135
MojoKid writes "The Japanese electronics manufacturer has
just agreed to pay a staggering $31 million fine for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of TFT-LCD panels sold to Dell, Inc. The United States Department of Justice made the proclamation, and details show that Hitachi has plead guilty to a one-count felony.
The charge, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, blames Hitachi Displays Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., with 'participating in a conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD sold to Dell for use in desktop monitors and notebook computers from April 1, 2001 through March 31, 2004.'"
Which Hitachi? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Who gets the $31 million? (Score:2, Informative)
I'd rather a profitable, productive company like Hitachi keep the money than the parasitic government.
Yes, but that's because you think that if we adopted your feudal economic system again, you'd be a lord, not a serf.
That is to say, you are a moron.
Re:Pay $31M, Made $300M (Score:3, Informative)
Not so fast, compadre - according to TFA, some guys from Chunghwa were sentenced to jail time and indictments have been handed down to LG execs.
Lousy summary - Hitachi didn't price fix by themselves, they had (above named) partners.
It is beginning to look like fines are only part of the picture here.
$31m Is Small, Not "Staggering" (Score:5, Informative)
In 2005, Samsung paid $300m for price fixing [usdoj.gov]. Hynix paid $185m. Infineon paid $160m, and four of its execs went to prison and paid $250,000 each.
In 2008, LG paid $400m in fines for price fixing [usdoj.gov]. Sharp paid $120m. Chunghwa paid $65m.
So... $35m. In this context, not very "staggering".
Re:How Much? (Score:5, Informative)
They've also been hit with criminal fines of over $585 million.