Fallout From LCD Price Fixing Scandal Continues as Chi Mei Agrees to $220 Million Fine
The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that Taiwanese LCD manufacturer Chi Mei Optoelectronics has agreed to pay a $220 million fine to address criminal charges stemming from extensive price fixing in the LCD industry from 2001 through 2006 that affected a number of companies, including Apple. Chi Mei becomes the sixth company to plead guilty in the conspiracy over the past year.
The department said the conspiracy affected some of the world's largest computer and television manufacturers, including Apple Inc. (AAPL), Dell Inc. (DELL) and Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ).
Prosecutors said Chi Mei and its co-conspirators participated in meetings in Taiwan, South Korea and the U.S. in which they agreed to fix LCD prices. The companies later shared sales data with each other to ensure all conspirators were adhering to the price-fixing agreement, prosecutors alleged.
Prosecutors didn't say how much the price-fixing victims might have paid in inflated LCD prices.
The criminal charges were brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, which has levied a total of $860 million in fines against the six companies.
Chi Mei has been a supplier of LCD displays for several of Apple's notebook models, and just last month agreed to a merger with rival Innolux, itself a subsidiary of long-time Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn. Apple, however, partnered with LG early this year on a five-year deal to lock in a long-term strategic alliance with what was already Apple's largest LCD supplier.
Popular Stories
If you have an iPhone 15 and drive a BMW, it might be best to avoid charging the device with the vehicle's wireless charging pad for now. Over the past week, some BMW owners have complained that their iPhone 15's NFC chip no longer works after charging the device with their vehicle's wireless charging pad, according to comments shared on the MacRumors Forums and X, formerly known as Twitter. ...
At WWDC 2022 last year, Apple previewed the next generation of CarPlay, promising deeper integration with vehicle functions like A/C and FM radio, support for multiple displays across the dashboard, personalization options, and more. Apple said the first vehicles with support for the next-generation CarPlay experience would be announced in late 2023, but it has still not shared any additional...
All first-generation Apple Watch models released in 2015 were added to Apple's obsolete products list on September 30, according to an internal memo obtained by MacRumors. As a result, these outdated "Series 0" watches are no longer eligible for repairs or other service at Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Provider locations. The list of obsolete models includes the first-generation...
Apple plans to release an iOS 17 update to address a bug that may contribute to the reported iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max overheating issue, according to a statement the company shared today with MacRumors and Forbes reporter David Phelan. Apple also says some recent updates to third-party apps have overloaded the system and contributed to the overheating issue. The report notes that...
Apple may be proceeding with plans to release a new Mac model this month, according to potentially related information obtained by MacRumors. Details pertaining to imminent changes to Mac trade-ins provided to MacRumors by a verified source suggest that Apple will likely begin accepting new models for trade-in this month. Similar changes in June coincided with WWDC, when Apple began accepting...
Significant changes are expected to arrive with Apple's fourth-generation iPhone SE, in terms of both design and hardware, MacRumors has learned. The iPhone SE 4, known internally under the codename Ghost, is expected to receive a new design derived almost entirely from the base model iPhone 14. According to our sources, the iPhone SE 4 will use a modified version of the iPhone 14 chassis...