Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
How much did you pay for your last notebook, mobile phone or iPod? The correct answer is likely to be more than you should have done. An announcement by the US Department of Justice has revealed price fixing on LCD panels by some of the biggest manufacturers in the world.
The US Department of Justice is determined to crack down on
international cartels, and that has got be a good thing for consumers
the world over. Especially if it means breaking up price-fixing rings
such as that which appears to have been operating in the realm of the
LCD panel.
You might not have heard of Chunghwa Picture
Tubes, a Taiwanese manufacturer of LCD panels, but I'm guessing the
names of LG and Sharp are a little more familiar?
All three companies are said to have worked together to fix prices of
the thin-film transistor LCD panels which they supplied to Apple, Dell and Motorola. As a consequence, this could have
artificially raised the cost of your iPod, mobile phone or notebook
computer.
The Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice, which investigated the cartel, certainly thinks so. It has levied the second largest fine ever on LG as a result, and to give a clear warning to others involved in similar dodgy dealings.
It has slapped a huge fine of USD $400 million on LG, USD $120 million
on Sharp and USD $65 million on Chunghwa for conspiring to fix prices
for panels sold to Apple, Dell and Motorola. Price fixing meetings were
said to have taken place over a five year period between 2001 and 2006.
The Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust
investigation, Thomas O Barnett, has warned that further charges could
follow as yet more companies are still being investigated.
In Japan, the Fair Trade Commission is also investigating price fixing within its own borders. South Korea is doing likewise.
Already, the stock markets have reacted to the news. LG Display dropped
11 percent on the Korea Exchange while Sharp lost 8.4 percent on the
Tokyo Stock Exchange. Chunghwa hit an eight year low in Taipei falling
by the maximum allowed on that particular exchange, 7 percent.
What chance a refund on my iPod to account for the price-fixing element? No, didn't think so...
David Bass
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