LG, Sharp and Chunghwa plead guilty to charges of price fixing

Global - Three of Asia's leading electronics manufacturers, LG Display Co. Ltd, Sharp Corp and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd have agreed to plead guilty to illegal price fixing liquid-crystal displays in the market and pay US$585 million in fines, the US Justice Department said.

Thomas Barnett, Assistant Attorney General and chief antitrust enforcer at the department, said LG, Sharp and Chunghwa were part of price-fixing conspiracies that were international in scope and "affected millions of American consumers who use computers, cell phones and numerous other household electronics every day."

Barnett said Sharp was implicated in three separate conspiracies with unnamed co- conspirators to fix prices for LCD panels sold to Dell, Apple and Motorola.

LG and Chunghwa on the other hand, conspired with each other to reach agreed-upon prices at which the two companies would sell LCD displays, said Barnett.

South Korea's LG Display will pay US$400 million, the second-highest criminal fine ever imposed by the Justice Department's Antitrust Division, the department said in a statement.

The department also said Japanese electronics giant Sharp will pay $120 million in fines while Taiwanese based Chunghwa would be fined US$65 million for their part in the conspiracy.

Sharp said in a statement that it "understands the gravity of this situation and will strengthen and thoroughly implement measures to prevent the recurrence of this kind of problem, and will earnestly work to regain the public's confidence."