LCD price fixing investigation reaches $860 million in total fines, Chi Mei latest to 'fess up
By Vlad Savov 
posted December 14th 2009 9:03AM
posted December 14th 2009 9:03AM
It's not every day we get to cite an official US Department of Justice news release, so it's with a certain glee that we can announce the US taxpayer was last week enriched by another $220 million courtesy of the not-so-fine folks who swindled him out of that money in the first place. Joining the ignominious ranks of LG, Sharp, Hitachi and Chungwa Picture Tube, Taiwanese manufacturer Chi Mei is refunding the US state for the pecuniary impact of its collusive practices, which were primarily related to keeping prices artificially high and profits proportionately inflated. US companies directly affected by these ignoble activities include HP, Dell and Apple, but don't you worry, AT&T has already started the inter-corporation scuffle, with Nokia piling on for good measure. Man, it almost seems like crime doesn't pay.
That's fine. It's only the customers who won't get $hit back. Great!
So when will the government start cracking down on unions for cartelizing labor and fixing prices? When will they remove regulation that has previously instated which create cartels and fix prices?
@bile
They never will. In fact, the Democrats are currently trying to strengthen unions by getting rid of the private ballot voting system which is where most calls for unionization are voted down. Its this kind of crap which makes me unable to identify myself as a Democrat.
@bile
I don't know, you will have to ask the Taiwan government when they will crack down on unions since none of these are US based companies and has nothing to do with US based unions.
American Taxpayer? That's ME!
*runs to mailbox to look for check*
@RafterManFMJ
Seriously where is my check...
@RafterManFMJ
If you divide 860 Million by the people effected the check would be so small that it wouldn't even cover the movie tickets you buy for Avatar this weekend.
Talk to me when the savings are passed on to the consumer, otherwise this hardly does anything for me.
@Eternity
Sure mate, those greedy companies will pass the fine to you conveniently included in the price of the next thing you buy from them. As for the tax compensation, keep dreaming. The government should use the money to build hospitals with a giant sign on their door saying "this was made with money from LG's stupid shareholders".
And about those fines, since they continue doing it, I don't see the point...
P.s. @Engadget, please, if you want us to use Firefox just state it openly. Browsing a page here or commenting under IE8 it is just a frackin' nightmare
@notung
Well I was talking about the middle men who buy from the LCD manufacturers getting fined. I don't see LCD monitor or TV prices going down as a result of this.
@Eternity Companies break laws regardless of most fines. They hope they won't get caught, but they don't really care if they do. The corporate label sucks up the blame and the CEO still makes off with a golden parachute. Savings for the consumer? Hah.
@notung
I switched to Firefox, but I found that there is a serious script error when using 32bit IE, but if you use 64bit IE, it works perfectly. Try the 64bit IE, otherwise, you have to use something like Firefox.
@Please forgive me
I'm not sure Microsoft will forgive you for switching to a better browser but good luck.
ohh government math...
"we just made 860 million...lets go spend 1.8 billion dollars!"
Oh the irony of a company getting fined for charging $40 for a $35 display, which harmed companies who sell it on for $150..
@Wwhat
ditto, the savings don't go to the consumers... plus they can always find a different supplier they have to buy it from chi mei. this stunt is so nokia and other companies and some government entity to pocket the money into their project slush fund.
Obama: Our administration has found some savings of 860 million dollars but that has been earmarked for government contingencies and also for us to use it to help further the economy ie war spending.
If you ask me, the 14% recycling fee tagged onto flat panel displays in California is just as criminal.
@Firesuite
That's what happens when you give liberals free reign.
@Firesuite
Isn't there also a mandatory 10% state tax on all wages on TOP of all the usual state taxes to bail out the state budget crisis caused by the ineptitude of the Cali politicians?
I would call that criminal as well. Welcome to the Welfare State of California.
@Firesuite All hail your glorious democ... oh, wait. The Governor is a Republican.
Remember everyone, California has a Republican governor, as well as its primarily-Democrat house/senate/courts. Both sides are equally at fault.
Vote for/against the person, not for/against the party.
How is the consumer supposed to see lower prices on these LCDs after the government piles-on with its fines? The companies will be forced to RAISE prices to pay for the fines. This is not an equitable solution at all. Who is running this show? They clearly don't care about you or I.
@ThrillBill - um, how do you suppose they should be penalized? By taking all candy away from their CEOs for a week?
Also, do you really think that simply letting them continue with their price-fixing (which is what happens if they're not forced to pay a stiff fine) is in any way beneficial to the consumers? I mean, seriously?
Some people...
@NewL They simply cannot be penalized at this point in time without hurting the the very people they are supposed to be protecting - the consumer. Mark it down as the ultimate failure of the regulatory dummies that were asleep at the wheel while this was going on. THEY are the ones that should have their candy (and jobs) taken away. Otherwise, yes, you have made good points here.
@NewL
The point of these procedures though is to help the consumer by seeing better prices in the store. Now if anything, prices are going to go up because these fines are so large. There has to be a median point that gets the message across but doesn't completely destroy the entire reason of this procedure. Give the people involved at the company some jail time instead. That doesn't cost the company anything, and they will be forced to find new people to run the company.
@THizzle7XU Jail time works for me!
@THizzle7XU - do you really think some Chinese manufacturer practically nobody has ever heard of cares about a few execs in jail? Who knows who's really behind the price fixings - is it the few you jail, or other people that stay in the background of the company?
You can't jail a few INDIVIDUALS to teach a COMPANY a lesson.
And anyway, I VERY much doubt that the US DoJ has any authority concerning Taiwanese people...but hey, never let reality get in the way of demanding both ridiculous and useless penalties...
I'm thinking of planning a Dell monitor. Does this means that we can expect lower LCD price anytime soon?
@nianrakluz
No, don't count on it.
@nianrakluz
These price fixing scandals have happened before in tech (most recently DRAM) and other industries (such as airlines ..google it).
And well DRAM prices ironically enough were dropping until the scandal broke out now they are stable. And airlines .. well have you tried pricing a ticket lately .. fat difference it made.
nice stacks of dollar bills digitally inserted underneath the eagle's talons... but I still prefer the standard quiver of arrows.
so does this mean LCD TVs and Monitors will drop in price??
@nelagster
You probably won't see any dramatic changes in pricing, but the fines are imposed in an effort to thwart future occurrences of price fixing.
Conspiracy Theory: How can the Gov get money with out raising Taxes?
Get in with consumer electronic companies and have them over charge 50% and then get "fined" 30% of profit and keep the rest.
Well it is kind of a problem when multiple companies collude to keep prices high instead of competing with each other which benefits the consumer. Also in the grand scheme of things there aren't really that many LCD manufacturers, compounding the problem.
That said, LCD monitor prices are always dropping - if anything it's HDTV prices that seem artificially high.
"the pecuniary impact of its collusive practices"
Yeah to say the least. And where is my $80 Chi Mei?
$860 million less natonal debt, that raises the value of the dollar with 0.0001 cent, so all you need is lots and lots of dollars.
@uberFu Only lawyers see profit in large lawsuits involving multiple people.