LCD Makers Cough Up $538 Million to Settle Price-Fixing Charges

A coterie of seven liquid-crystal display makers have agreed to settle antitrust claims that they were colluding with one another to fix the prices of LCD panels.

Samsung, Hitachi, Sharp, Chimei Innolux, Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Epson Imaging Devices and HannStar Display, as well as some of their affiliates, will pay $538 million to settle allegations brought by eight state attorneys general that they conspired over eight years to fix prices on LCDs used in everything from computer monitors and notebooks to televisions and mobile phones.

Of that sum, about $501 million will be used to subsidize a refund program for consumers. The remainder will be distributed to the state governments of Arkansas, California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, West Virginia and Wisconsin to settle their penalty claims. The settling companies have also agreed to participate in antitrust compliance programs.

(Image courtesy of Flickr user Frank Gruber)