Dell Sues Toshiba, Hitachi, Others for LCD Cartel

By Jane McEntegart
published

Dell is suing five LCD panel manufacturers for alleged price fixing.

On Friday of last week, Dell filed a lawsuit at a U.S. district court in San Francisco against a group of five LCD makers in Asia. A spokesman at Dell's Japan unit yesterday told Reuters that the company had filed suit against Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba, Seiko Epson and HannStar for allegedly fixing the price of LCD panels

Details about the suit are pretty scant. Reuters reports that both Sharp and Hitachi said that they were aware of the suit but declined to comment on the matter. Dell has not said what it is seeking in terms of damages.

Jane McEntegart
28 Comments Comment from the forums
  • NapoleonDK
    Maybe they can use the money from this to develop proper bezel-less screens. Of course, if I were to pick a company to design bezel-free tech for computers, it'd be Samsung - not Dell...
    Reply
  • agent766
    NapoleonDKMaybe they can use the money from this to develop proper bezel-less screens. Of course, if I were to pick a company to design bezel-free tech for computers, it'd be Samsung - not Dell...
    If they do develop bezel-free screens, that'd make it a lot more feasible for multi-screen displays. But where would the buttons go? :O
    Reply
  • pooflinger1
    Weren't Samsung and LG recently found guilty of this?
    Reply
  • dman3k
    Why would it be Samsung who would develop bezel-free tech?

    I think it'll be Vizio.
    Reply
  • OvrClkr
    Dell makes remarkable screens no doubt but price-fixing? Seems like 2010 is the year where everyone wants to sue everyone.
    Reply
  • Pei-chen
    Isn't Samsung and LG-Philips the two biggest panel makers and main supplier of DELL? Why is DELL suing smaller makers on behalf of Samsung and LG-Philips?

    It feels like the LaHood, GM, and Toyota conspiracy again.
    Reply
  • Dell has been having major LCD supply chain issues - this lawsuit likely has something to do with it. Three months after ordering a Studio 16 with a RGB LED 1080 display, my rep told me that he had no idea when or if the displays would be arriving in North America, and perhaps I would like to change my order.
    Reply
  • Toddosan
    agent766If they do develop bezel-free screens, that'd make it a lot more feasible for multi-screen displays. But where would the buttons go?The side of the monitor maybe.
    Reply
  • cjl
    OvrClkrI don't think price-fixing should be considered illegal. If you are a manufacturer and you get your parts for less than the competition you should be able to sell your product at whatever price you want. This lawsuit smells like Dell is just looking for some extra cash..
    Price fixing doesn't mean one manufacturer is setting the price for their own panels however high they want. That's perfectly legal. Price fixing means that several manufacturers got together and agreed to not drop prices below a certain level, in essence creating a monopolistic situation. If the manufacturers had not agreed on this, then competition would have driven prices down, but because of the price fixing, the prices remain well above where their equilibrium would have been without the illegal collaboration.
    Reply
  • dman3k
    I don't understand how Samsung could charge more for a cheaper technology and a cheaper method of manufacturing which means cheaper production value. Maybe that's what Dell is fighting about. Samsung wants more with less. All of this is pure speculations.
    Reply