Lawsuit charges CRT makers with price-fixing

A class-action lawsuit alleges manufacturers of being a "global cartel" involved in price-fixing of CRT monitors.

A class-action lawsuit was filed against six monitor manufacturers on Tuesday, alleging the companies of being a "global cartel" involved in price-fixing of CRT monitors.

The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of Nathan Muchnick, alleges that six manufacturers -- Chunghwa, LG Electronics, Matsushita, Philips Electronics, Samsung and Toshiba -- artificially inflated the prices of CRT products to remain stable despite a rapid decline in demand.

The prices of CRT monitors should have fallen as technologically superior products were introduced, said Joseph Saveri, a lawyer with Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, which represents Muchnick.

"Instead, for almost a decade, we have seen periods of unnatural and sustained price stability, as well as inexplicable increases in the prices of CRTs," Saveri said.

The complaint alleges collusive behavior by the manufacturers, causing the plaintiff and direct purchasers to overpay for CRT monitors. The suit seeks triple damages.

Of the 48 million monitors that will ship this quarter, 9 percent are expected to be CRTs, down from 13 percent last year, according to projections by DisplaySearch, a research firm. The average selling price of CRT monitors has increased to US$32 in the fourth quarter, up from US$30.80 last year, said John Jacobs, an analyst at DisplaySearch.

The price increase could be explained by factory closures. CRT factories have been closing down because of LCD penetration, and the reduced manufacturing capacity makes it hard for suppliers to meet demand, Jacobs said.

More about: Cabraser, DisplaySearch, Heimann & Bernstein, LG, LG Electronics, Lieff, Matsushita, Philips, Philips Electronics, Samsung, Toshiba

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the Computerworld comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Whitepapers
All whitepapers
Sign up now to get free exclusive access to reports, research and invitation only events.
Featured Download
/downloads/product/15/angry-ip-scanner/

Angry IP Scanner

Angry IP Scanner (or simply ipscan) is an open-source and cross-platform network scanner designed to be fast and simple to use. It scans IP addresses ...

Computerworld newsletter

Join the most dedicated community for IT managers, leaders and professionals in Australia