AT&T Inc sued Samsung Electronics Co, LG Display Co, AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) and other manufacturers of liquid-crystal displays (LCDs) over claims they colluded to fix prices of panels sold in the US.
AT&T, the biggest US phone carrier, filed the complaint yesterday in federal court in San Francisco.
The lawsuit claims Samsung, the world’s biggest maker of LCDs, and more than six other display makers “formed an international cartel illegally to restrict competition in the United States in the market for LCD panels.”
“The conspiracy included communications and meetings in which defendants agreed to eliminate competition and fix the prices of LCD panels that were ultimately incorporated into LCD products that they knew would be sold in California and the United States,” according to the complaint.
In March, Hitachi Displays Ltd, a unit of Japan’s Hitachi Ltd, which isn’t named in AT&T’s suit, became the fourth company to plead guilty in a global US display panel price-fixing investigation.
LG Display, the world’s second largest LCD maker, Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管) and Sharp Corp, all three of which were named in the AT&T case, agreed to plead guilty to the US’ claims and pay US$585 million in criminal fines. AT&T’s case relies on the Justice Department’s investigation.
AT&T, based in Dallas, argues its AT&T Mobility unit purchased more than 300 million mobile wireless handsets for resale to its customers. The prices of those handsets were artificially inflated because of the price-fixing, the carrier said.
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