A Taiwanese manufacturer of LCD televisions has now become the sixth company to admit to a price-fixing conspiracy, which affected large corporations including Apple and Hewlett-Packard.
Chi Mei Optoelectronics said in a plea agreement it would pay $US220 million fines, and admitted its guilt in the conspiracy to fix prices.
The price-fixing occurred from between 14 September 2001 to 1 December 2006.
Additionally, as part of the conspiracy the company exchanged information on the sales of TFT-LCD panels to force other companies to pay the set prices.
The Justice Department announced figures estimating the size of the LCD market at about $US70 billion for the period of the price-fixing. Handset manufacturer Nokia and telco AT&T have both sued a number of companies for taking part in the scheme.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
