Fine for price-fixing chip firms
By Raf Casert |
May 20, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE European Union yesterday fined 10 producers of memory chips, including Samsung, a combined 331 million euros (US$403 million) for price-fixing.
The EU Commission said that the companies, mostly non-European, rigged the market between 1998 and 2002 by sharing secret information which allowed them to set prices and quotations for Dynamic Random Access Memory chips in Europe.
Samsung of South Korea received the biggest fine of 145 million euros. Germany's Infineon was fined 56 million euros, and Hynix 51 million euros. Micron escaped a fine because it brought the case to the commission.
The case was the first time companies accused of price-fixing cooperated with the commission to reach an agreement. The companies received a 10 percent cut in fines because it reduced the costs and time of the investigation.
"This first settlement decision is another milestone in the commission's anti-cartel enforcement," said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia. "The commission to bring this long-running investigation to a close and to free up resources to investigate other suspected cartels."
Almunia said there were several more such settlements in the pipeline but refused to elaborate. He insisted that the use of settlements did not soften the commission's stance on the illegal practice.
"We are not compromising on cartels," he said. "We will continue to be clearly against cartels."
Over the past decade, the commission has struck across the globe to impose massive fines on multinationals which collude to fix prices.
The EU Commission said that the companies, mostly non-European, rigged the market between 1998 and 2002 by sharing secret information which allowed them to set prices and quotations for Dynamic Random Access Memory chips in Europe.
Samsung of South Korea received the biggest fine of 145 million euros. Germany's Infineon was fined 56 million euros, and Hynix 51 million euros. Micron escaped a fine because it brought the case to the commission.
The case was the first time companies accused of price-fixing cooperated with the commission to reach an agreement. The companies received a 10 percent cut in fines because it reduced the costs and time of the investigation.
"This first settlement decision is another milestone in the commission's anti-cartel enforcement," said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia. "The commission to bring this long-running investigation to a close and to free up resources to investigate other suspected cartels."
Almunia said there were several more such settlements in the pipeline but refused to elaborate. He insisted that the use of settlements did not soften the commission's stance on the illegal practice.
"We are not compromising on cartels," he said. "We will continue to be clearly against cartels."
Over the past decade, the commission has struck across the globe to impose massive fines on multinationals which collude to fix prices.
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