Dell joins dog pile, sues five LCD makers over price-fixing allegations
By Ross Miller 
posted March 15th 2010 11:05PM
posted March 15th 2010 11:05PM
Looks like Dell is getting itself a membership in a club of which AT&T, Nokia, and the US Department of Justice are none too pleased to say they're members. The company has filed suit in a San Francisco court today against four Japanese LCD makers - Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Seiko Epson - and Taiwan-based HannStar. The crime at hand? None other than the much-chronicled LCD price fixing cartel. At least two of the aforementioned companies (Sharp and Hitachi) have already come forth to admit involvement and pay fines elsewhere, and now it looks like the troubles are still coming for them and others. If only there was some way the companies could band together to increase profits and help pay for these suits... oh, wait.
Mini 5
@JeremyBenthem
oh wait it's a Dell article about something else
@JeremyBenthem Damn it, I can't wait for the Mini 5 either.
@JeremyBenthem Yeah. Somtimes when i see apples at the store i shout "IPAD!"
people stare
LOL I laughed out loud at the last sentence in this article.
@Psychosoldier Me too I find alot of engadgets articles funny yet informative
@Console fanboy
It depends who's writing.
Gizmodo is more fun.
But Michael K is more my cup of tea.
I was actually pleasantly surprised to not see Samsung on that list.
Yeah! Don't be a wimpy tech giant pushover! You show those suppliers!
@AckbarsFist
are you trying to say that Sharp, Hitachi and Toshiba are not tech giants or something?
@BrianH No. But that's the way they are being treated, whether correctly or wrongly.
@AckbarsFist The Hitachimen are gonna come for you.
@AckbarsFist: IT'S A TRAP!
I wonder if there would be some way to align the fish head on the Nokia logo with the body...
That picture is hilarious.
Haha - the original Nokia logo never gets old! :D
I guess its "sue" season...lol
@ThatDudeSolo
Time for hunting! And years of litagation with millions spent on legal fees.
@Ryan Hemler
Sure, go ahead and laugh... But someone has has to find a way to employ all those graduates from law schools who are going unemployed because there just isn't a lot of merger action going on... I guess. :o
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=law+school+graduates+unemployed&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
I say, good on them for keeping those lawyers busy. They're better than those scumbags who call themselves MBA's. Oh wait... ;)
Wwwhat? Seko Epson? Write it correctly - Seiko Epson.
When all these companies get money from a settlement will it be given to the people that really were ripped off because of price fixing, the consumers?
@terryH
Yes. And if you send this email to 15 other people while standing in a bucket of mashed potatoes, Nokia, Dell, and AT&T will all find you using a "new technology" and write you a check for $150 EACH! This is not a hoax, my friend Johnny did this and got FREE Viagra!
Just remember the mashed potatoes....
@terryH
Were you "ripped off" or did you willing pay the price that you paid when you bought your screen? Quit whining. These companies are doing this to protect their profits against what they view as unfair business practices, not because they're some social charity.
@Joe Cool Lol that got a laugh out of me.
@terryH The government will get its share with its own set of fines - so indirectly you participate as well.
@paul34
Wasn't DELL willing to pay the price it paid as well? Then why do they get a break?
@Abuzar1
What, you haven't heard of that money grubbing self serving new corporation, Paul34? It's the rage. No concern for people, it's all logic and amorality. You get what you pay for.
Yeah, I'm with you and the OP, if Dell et al get to collect money back for what they found to be price fixing, then anyone who bought a product with said prix fixe screens deserved at least a small desert, on the house. I paid what they wanted because they set the price. I didn't volunteer to get ripped off / pay too much.
That's nice and all, but when will I be able to find an affordable 1920x1200 IPS panel?
@Kueller You will never get just a panel in the retail chain. You, as a consumer, will always have to buy the entire screen... duh.
Seriously, you get what you pay for. IPS costs more because they're not the yard trash that is TN. And to be fair, there are plenty of crappy panels that are IPS as well..
Dell are just gonna hit a brick wall. Price fixing allegations are very hard to prove.
Then again, I hope I'm wrong with this one, it'll be fun to watch.
@weeman Nokia is probally the one hitted the most here and at least as long as USA got the same regualtions as EU that the first one to admit gets away with the whole thing with minor fines i think it's not that hard to prove. At least looking at the amount of cartels that EU gets caught.
It doesn't need many times more than one. Like couple of years ago with all the 4 big lift and escalators companies getting caught of price fixing.
Time to start EngadgetLEGAL and put all these stories there.
You guys realise this shit was going on the whole time before you decided to start reporting on it ?
"I called" this story weeks ago. The LCD "MARKET" is not the only price fixed market in the IT world.
Some could say "ETF's" create a priced fixed market.