Sharp Settles with Dell and Others in Price-fixing Suit
Dell has received $198.5 million from Sharp as a settlement in a price-fixing lawsuit.
Dell had sued Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba, HannStar, and Seiko in March of 2010 and accused the companies of collusion that kept prices of TFT LCD products high. Today Sharp announced a settlement with Dell and two other unnamed companies amounting to nearly $200 million, however, there was no further information on the settlement agreement.
"After carefully taking into consideration the applicable US laws, the facts of the case, and other factors, Sharp has decided that the best possible course of action is to resolve these lawsuits by settlement," the firm said in a statement.
Price-fixing claims, settlements and convictions are rather common in the display industry. Hitachi Displays, LG, Sharp, and Chunghwa Picture Tubes paid $585 million in 2010 to cover damages in a price fixing case that affected, among others, Dell, Apple, and Motorola. Last December, Sharp, Samsung, and Hitachi had to shell out $553 million in a New-York based price-fixing case. And, just last week, Toshiba was ordered to pay $87 million following a ruling that it fixed display prices for TVs.
Producers engage in (illegal) price fixing.
This keeps prices high, yet the Distributors (Dell) still receiver their proper margin, the buyer (you and me) are the ones who pay the high prices.
Some time later the whole thing becomes public, and Dell receives money.
Legally the whole affair is settled.
Technically, you and me paid 200m$ to Dell.
That's a lot of words for "yes, we did it"
Producers engage in (illegal) price fixing.
This keeps prices high, yet the Distributors (Dell) still receiver their proper margin, the buyer (you and me) are the ones who pay the high prices.
Some time later the whole thing becomes public, and Dell receives money.
Legally the whole affair is settled.
Technically, you and me paid 200m$ to Dell.
In my books fine should be payed to the governments.
PS
I guess it happens all the time in many industries. Just look at motherboard prices now and back in 2005.
They generally are, Intel being a big example.
No you moron, but for the simple fact that this isn't the first time, it obvious that they are paying because they know they are guilty. YET AGAIN. Now tuck your tail between your legs, and go to your little pompous corner.
Thanks Dell. I will buy another brand. That laptop was overpriced for what video and ports it had in it.
So I can see why Dell would be compensated. That said, of course I agree the consumers ARE screwed as well and yet they don't get any compensation.
*sigh*
I hate reading things like this. It only reminds me how fucked up things work in the higher echelons of society.
This is a simplistic view of the settlement process. The legal costs in fighting are certainly not in the range of $200m. A big part of the calculus that you do not factor in is what the likelihood of losing in court is, as well as what the likely damages would be in the case of a loss. With a $200m settlement, they ARE admitting that they have a weak case, and they have determined that settling is less risky than fighting.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but your condescending reply deserved a little scrutiny.