| Dell sues Sharp, Hitachi, Toshiba for alleged price fixing of LCD displays |
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16/03/2010 14:50 (698 Day 08:12 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- U.S. computer maker Dell Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Sharp Corp, Hitachi Ltd, Toshiba Corp and two other companies for the price fixing of LCD displays.
Dell filed the suit at a U.S. district court in San Francisco on Friday against the group of five firms, which also includes Japan's Seiko Epson and Taiwan's HannStar, said Dell spokesman David Frink, according to Reuters.
The Wall Street Journal reports that in a 61-page complaint, Dell said it was taking the action "on behalf of itself and its affiliates to recover for antitrust and other harms arising from billions of dollars of purchases at artificially inflated prices, over several years, of thin film transistor-liquid crystal display panels, or products containing TFT-LCD panels." Dell said it believed it had been overcharged since January 1996.
Dell hasn't specified how much money it hopes to be awarded in the case. The computer maker is seeking a jury trial, Frink said, according to PC World. The five vendors, all based in Asia, could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.
Several LCD vendors have already pleaded guilty to price-fixing in an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Those admissions have resulted in fines of more than $860 million, the same source reports. In December Nokia sued a group of display makers for alleged price fixing, and the European Commission has launched a similar investigation to that of the DOJ.
Dell, the No. 3 computer maker in the world, employs 16,000 workers in Central Texas, according to Austin Business Journal. The company, which made its name as the developer of personal computers, has been diversifying into areas offering higher profit margins such as services, storage, software and smart phones during the last year.
In February, Dell reported $334 million in income on $14.9 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter that ended Jan. 31 compared with a $351 million net income on $13.4 billion in revenue during the same three-month period last year, the same source reports. For the fiscal year, the company posted a $1.43 billion profit on $52.9 billion in revenue versus a $2.47 billion profit on $61.1 billion in revenue during fiscal 2009.
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