Hitachi to pay $31m fine for LCD price fixing

Hitachi Displays Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) has pleaded guilty to conspiring to fix prices on the sale of LCD panels. The company has agreed to pay a $31 million fine as part of a deal with the U.S. Justice Department. Three other LCD display producers have already admitted their involvement in price fixing.

Japan-based electronics firm Hitachi admitted to fixing prices of LCD screens that they sold to Dell, for the use in their desktop monitors and notebooks from 2001 to 2004. With this fine, the US government has now retrieved $600 million in criminal fines, all to do with price fixing of display screens.

Other companies that have also struck a deal in the past include, Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd., LG Display Co. Ltd. and Sharp Corp. The US government said that they hope that these fines will send out a strong message to any multinational company, that they mean business.

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