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台日韓電子廠商合謀定價在美遭罰5.85億美元
2008-11-13 12:24
美國司法部今天宣布，包括台灣中華映管股份有限公司、韓國樂喜金星顯示器（LG Display），以及日本夏普公司在內的三家電子產品製造廠商，因承認針對液晶顯示面板合謀定價，在與控方達成認罪協議後，被處以合計五億八千五百萬美元罰金。 這項案件是在舊金山聯邦地方法院提出，由華盛頓司法部的反托拉斯助理檢察長做出宣布。
其中，LG同意付出四億美元罰金，是反托拉斯部門歷來裁量的第二高罰金。根據司法部聲明指出，LG承認自二零零一年至二零零六年間，參與液晶顯示面板在世界銷售的合謀定價。
中華映管也因為在五年期間，參與LG與其他廠商在全世界銷售液晶顯示面板的合謀定價，同意付六千五百萬美元罰金。
司法部指出，LG和中華映管被控在台灣、韓國、美國等地，參與合謀定價的會議與討論，並交換液晶顯示面板的銷售資訊，以監控價格。
夏普公司則因為參與三項合謀定價案同意付一億兩千萬美元的罰金，影響所及包括售給戴爾電腦使用的電腦螢幕與筆記型電腦、摩托羅拉公司的手機、以及蘋果電腦的iPod。
司法部反托拉斯助理檢察長巴奈特在司法部發出的聲明中指出，這些合謀定價影響了數百萬使用電腦、手機與家用電子產品的美國消費者。
他表示，這些定罪與高額罰金應可發送清楚訊息，不論發生地點為何，美國司法部的反托拉斯部門會積極調查並起訴非法企業聯合行為。
巴奈特也說，調查仍在進行，並不排除對這三家公司或其他公司的個人進行可能指控。971112
【中央社】
LG Display, Sharp Shares Fall on Price-Fixing Fine (Update2)
By Kevin Cho
Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- LG Display Co., Sharp Corp. and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. tumbled in Asian trading after the three liquid-crystal-display makers agreed to plead guilty and pay $585 million in fines for conspiring to fix prices.
LG Display, based in Seoul, dropped as much as 15 percent to 19,250 won on the Korea Exchange. Osaka-based Sharp lost as much as 8.7 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Chunghwa Picture fell by the 7 percent daily limit as of 11:37 a.m. in Taipei.
The fines will further undermine the LCD makers' earnings at a time when a glut in the $82 billion industry is driving down prices and forcing manufacturers to scale back production plans. The $400 million that LG Display, the world's second-largest LCD maker, agreed to pay is the second-highest criminal fine the U.S Department of Justice's antitrust division has imposed.
``This adds to the negative sentiment that's already plaguing the industry,'' said Jason Kang, an analyst at Daewoo Securities Co. in Seoul. ``The fine is bigger than expected and it will be difficult to predict favorable results from other regions such as the EU.''
Sharp will pay $120 million and Taoyuan, Taiwan-based Chunghwa Picture Tubes will pay $65 million for conspiring with LG Display and other unnamed companies, the Justice Department said yesterday.
Regulators in the U.S., South Korea, Japan and Europe first disclosed in December 2006 that they were investigating LCD makers, including industry leader Samsung Electronics Co., of price fixing.
Japanese, Korean Investigations
Japan's Fair Trade Commission is still conducting a separate investigation into price-fixing activities in the country, Toshiyuki Nanbu, director of management and planning at the regulator, said today, declining to say when a ruling may be made.
South Korea's antitrust regulator is also continuing its probe, Kim Dae Young, an official at the Korea Fair Trade Commission' International Cartel Division, said today.
Miwako Suetsune, a spokeswoman at the European Commission Delegation in Tokyo, wasn't immediately available for comment.
LG Display, Chunghwa and others met several times from 2001 to 2006 in so-called ``crystal meetings'' to set prices on desktop computer, laptop and television screens, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Barnett, who heads the antitrust division, said yesterday.
Under the plea deal, Sharp Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Katsuhiko Machida and other company directors will give back 10 percent to 30 percent of their compensation for three months beginning in December.
``Sharp understands the gravity of this situation and will strengthen and thoroughly implement measures to prevent the recurrence of this kind of problem,'' it said in a statement.
Over Five Years
LG Display will pay the fine over five years from 2009 and reflect the entire amount as non-operating expenses this quarter, said Park Sang Bae, a spokesman for the company. The panel maker said in a statement it doesn't expect its relationship with customers and future sales to be affected.
``We haven't engaged in any meetings nor communications on the matter with other LCD makers since the lawsuit started, and we will ensure we won't do so in the future,'' James Wu, chief financial officer of Chunghwa Picture, said by telephone.
Wu said the $65 million fine won't be booked as a one-time expense because the company had set aside special funds for legal expenses every month for some time.
Samsung, AU Optronics Corp. and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. were among companies that said in 2006 they were being investigated for price-fixing.
Case Ongoing
``Samsung has pledged full and continuous cooperation with the DOJ's ongoing investigation,'' James Chung, a spokesman for the Suwon, Korea-based company, said today.
Yawen Hsiao, an AU spokeswoman, said she couldn't immediately comment, while Denis Chen, a finance director at Chi Mei, declined to comment.
LG Display said last month its third-quarter net income fell 44 percent while Samsung also posted a 44 decline in profit from LCDs because of falling panel prices. AU Optronics, the world's third-largest LCD maker, reported a bigger-than-estimated decline in quarterly profit.
Under EU rules, companies can be fined up to 10 percent of annual revenue for breaking antitrust laws. In Japan and South Korea, penalties may be as high as 10 percent of the related product's sales during the period of the offense.
Record EU Fine
Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA, Asahi Glass Co., and a Nippon Sheet Glass Co. unit were fined a record 1.38 billion euros ($1.7 billion) this week by the European Union over claims the companies fixed the price of car windows. Saint-Gobain, Europe's largest building-materials supplier, was fined 896 million euros, the highest against a single company, the European Commission said in a Nov. 12. statement.
In 2006, consumers sued LCD makers over price fixing, citing enforcement raids and investigations in Asia and Europe and a criminal grand jury investigation in San Francisco. Lawsuits filed in various states allege that the companies illegally conspired to fix prices for computer laptop and desktop monitors. The complaints, consolidated in San Francisco, seek unspecified damages and a refund for consumers.
In August this year, a federal judge refused to fully dismiss consumer claims against the companies.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Cho in Seoul at kcho2@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: November 12, 2008 22:57 EST
