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US: Class action suit launched against Panasonic, Samsung over prices

By  |  July 22, 2014

A class action lawsuit has been filed in California against some of the largest electronics manufacturers over allegations of price-fixing, reports say.

Panasonic and Samsung Electro-Mechanics were just some of the defendants named in the suit, which claims companies colluded to fix the prices of capacitor manufacturers, which are components of dozens of households technologies. The case is spearheaded by Chip-Tech, a seller of these capacitors in question.

According to reports, Chip-Tech claims the defendants manipulated capacitor prices following revenue falls beginning in 2000. “To slow any further decline in demand, and to ensure that sales of their respective product portfolios would remain profitable, defendants agreed that price competition … had to cease,” the complaint says.

The suit was filed late last week. Investigations regarding similar allegations are ongoing at the US Department of Justice and elsewhere, including in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and the EU.

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