Philips, LG Electronics, Panasonic and three other firms were fined a record €1.47 billion by EU antitrust regulators for fixing prices of TV and monitor cathode-ray tubes for nearly a decade.
The European Commission slapped the biggest penalty, of €313.4 million, on Dutch-based Philipstoday. LG Electronics came in second with a €295.6 million fine.
The EU competition authority fined Panasonic Corp €157.5 million, Samsung SDI €150.8 million, Toshiba €28 million, and French company Technicolor €38.6 million.
Two Panasonic joint ventures were also fined. Taiwanese firm Chunghwa Picture Tubes blew the whistle on the cartels in TV and computer monitors and escaped a fine.
The two cartels, one involving TVs and the other computer monitors, operated worldwide between 1996 and 2006, during which company executives discussed how to fix prices and share markets at "green meetings", so-called because the events often ended with a round of golf.
"These cartels for cathode ray tubes are 'textbook cartels': they feature all the worst kinds of anti-competitive behaviour that are strictly forbidden to companies doing business in Europe," EU Competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.
He said the violations were especially harmful for consumers, as cathode ray tubes accounted for 50 to 70 per cent of the price of a screen.
Cathode ray tubes have largely been replaced by more advanced display technologies such as liquid-crystal display (LCD), plasma display and organic light-emitting diodes.
The biggest fine prior to the cathode-ray tube cartel was €1.38 billion imposed on participants in a car glass cartel in 2008.
The Commission's sanctions followed a total fine of €128.74 million levied last year against four producers of the glass used in cathode-ray tubes.
Reuters
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