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.
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC
TECHNOLOGY DAY: The Taiwanese firm is also setting up a joint venture with Alphabet Inc on robots and plans to establish a firm in Japan to produce Model A EVs Manufacturing giant Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday announced a collaboration with ChatGPT developer OpenAI to build next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and strengthen its local supply chain in the US to accelerate the deployment of advanced AI systems. Building such an infrastructure in the US is crucial for strengthening local supply chains and supporting the US in maintaining its leading position in the AI domain, Hon Hai said in a statement. Through the collaboration, OpenAI would share its insights into emerging hardware needs in the AI industry with Hon Hai to support the company’s design and development work, as well
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