http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/ Engadget Comments for LCD price-fixing probe targets LG.Philips, Sharp, Samsung http://www.engadget.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.engadget.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/
Like the music industry's price-fixing lawsuits - what did that do? a $4 check in the mail? and how much did CD prices come down? not much, if at all.

I really would like to see LCD panel prices come down, and they have a little, but it seems like ithey should be quite a bit lower by now.]]>Dec 12th 2006 6:48PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/Dec 12th 2006 10:11PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/Dec 13th 2006 2:03AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/Dec 13th 2006 9:59AMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/
I'm mostly surprised to see LG on the list, but I guess they're trying to make what little money they can. I was wondering why LCD prices seemed to have leveled off lately with the huge surge in sales. ]]>Dec 13th 2006 12:31PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/Dec 14th 2006 2:03PMhttp://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/lcd-price-fixing-probe-targets-lg-philips-sharp-samsung/
Look at the marketplace for LCD panels. Over a billion cellphones. TVs. Computer monitors. Laptop screens. Portable music/video players. Billions and billions and billions of products use LCD panels. LCDs don't require any exotic or hard-to-acquire components. Their manufacturing has been mastered. The truth of the matter is that LCDs are nearly as ubiquitous as paper, and should be priced accordingly. If demand and honest competition were driving the price, devices which incorporate LCDs would be MUCH cheaper than they are. Long before LCDs were ever practicable, it was pretty obvious that the display industry was just about the laziest bunch of slobs on the planet. They stuck with CRTs doing NTSC and PAL for decades and decades with very few significant technological leaps. Well, with the move into LCD they have to accept an entirely different worldview. They're in the domain of rapid product changes and even more rapid price drops. It probably was not entirely unforseeable that they would fight this with back-room deals to keep their prices artificially high.

And when discussing this, don't forget there are very few companies that actually produce LCD panels. Most of the TV manufacturers buy their panels from these companies and then repackage them, that's why it's important to find out what panel a computer monitor or TV uses and not just rely on the brand selling it.]]>Dec 29th 2006 8:13AM