Sony Monopolizing Optical Drive Tech?

[r_manic]

Sony Corp., Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp. are facing a probe of their optical-drive units by the U.S. Justice Department, a review that will assess whether they have too much power in the market.

Hitachi and Toshiba said today that they have been notified of the investigation, while Sony said last week that it has received a subpoena from the Justice Department. Optical drives go into Blu-ray and DVD players, used with computers and televisions.

The Justice Department has stepped up scrutiny of computer component makers, targeting manufacturers of liquid-crystal displays and memory chips. A probe of displays used in computers, TVs and mobile phones resulted in companies such as Hitachi and South Korea’s LG Display Co. pleading guilty to working together to fix prices. Source

I don't get it... if Sony tried to raise prices of their tech, someone would easily come out with a cheaper solution that does the same thing. It's not like optical drive technology allows for much differentiation anyway!

 

[huron]

I thought the issue was that they controlled the market and worked together to keep the prices fixed.

I agree, optical drive tech hasn't changed much, but if you control the market, don't you think you could keep making large profits since tech isn't changing and there isn't competition (since you control it)?

I think this is akin to the price fixing that was happening with RAM a year or so ago.