Logo-small
  • Home
  • Blog
Logo
  • Reviews
  • TV Streams
  • live Sports
  • TV Shows
  • TV Guides
  • Mobile Apps
  • Streaming websites
Internet TV news IPTV
Matt Dec 8th, 2012

European Commission Rule That Some CRT TVs Were Price-Fixed

The use of cathode ray tubes in TV and computer screens is slowly but surely becoming an outdated concept around the world, but a decision from the the European Commission (EC) has brought the technology back into the spotlight, although an organisation-record fine of €1.47b (£1.19b) to TV makers in the European market is specifically for events that occurred in the past.

The case in question that European ‘anti-trust investigators’ looked on was that of ‘widespread price-fixing’ by major technology companies selling TV sets and computer monitors between 1996-2006, with the most notable guilty parties including Philips (€313.4m), LG (€295.6m), Panasonic (€157.4m), and Samsung (€150.8m) over the offence.

Technicolor (€38.6m) and Toshiba (€28m) were also punished, while Taiwanese supply company Chunghwa Picture Tubes avoided any sentence after whistleblowing to the EC on the ‘CRT cartels’.

The trade regulators have come to the conclusion that the above-mentioned companies conspired with each other to commonly fix prices in the market for CRT-based products, along with the ‘allocation of customers between themselves’, and ensuring products had ‘restricted output’, possibly leading to customers being required to buy new and ‘better’ screens as replacements. The ‘anti-competitive’ crimes (which are strictly outlawed in Europe) are noted to have occurred in both the European Economic Area (EEA) and in markets worldwide.

Joaquin Almunia, the European Commission’s vice-president of competition policy, said of the cartels “[CRT technology was formerly] a very important component in the making of television and computer screens. They accounted for 50% to 70% of the price of a screen. This gives an indication of the serious harm this illegal behaviour has caused both to television and computer screen producers in the EEA, and ultimately the harm it caused to the European consumers over the years”.

It is claimed by the EC that companies developed a strong culture of meeting to fix prices based on demand, production, capacity, and sales, and would set prices to consumers and rival companies accordingly, with many of these decisions achieved over secretive high-profile ‘greens meetings’, followed by a game of golf, and lower-level ‘glass meetings’, for regular preparation.

The EC summarised: “The cartelists were trying to address the decline of the CRT market in a collusive way, to the detriment of consumers.”

Panasonic have been one of the first of the companies that were found guilty to publicly plead their innocence and a desire to fight the ruling, as a spokesperson said of the fine: “After fully examining the content of the European Commission’s decision, we will consider how to deal with this with an eye to filing a lawsuit with a court of the EU.”

The current decision stands at the belief that all being fined are naturally guilty, though, so while it may not have had a huge overall effect on the consumer at the time under the belief that the technology was not so sustainable, could your old CRT TV have been over-priced and/or not working on purpose?

Related News:

  1. Big screen TV’s plummet in price by 30 percent
  2. Netflix Record Customer Drop After Price Hike
  3. Hulu Consider Cutting Subscription Price In Half
  4. Sony Google TV Gets A Price Slashing
  5. European ACTA Joins SOPA In Being Thrown Out

Tags: cathode ray tubes, chunghwa picture tubes, computer, computer monitor, corporate crime, court decision, crt, crt cartels, crt screens, crt tv, ec, european commission, LG, online tv, online tv europe, panasonic, philips, price-fixing, samsung, Technicolor, toshiba, tv, tv sets
Previous Story
‘X Factor’ Judge Cast-Off Cheryl Cole Suing Producers For $2.3 Million
Next Story
Duck Dynasty Finale Breaks Viewership Record for A&E

3 Comments

  1. Sony Stop The Tape With Recorder Productions Marking Industry End
    Sony Stop The Tape With Recorder Productions Marking Industry End December 12, 2012 at 8:42 am

    […] form of once cutting-edge technology is said to be edging closer to an official death sentence, as reports claim that Tokyo […]

  2. 29% Of UK Citizens Keep VCRs In New Survey
    29% Of UK Citizens Keep VCRs In New Survey March 20, 2013 at 2:24 am

    […] from 1982)) perhaps being in a slower decline than many people would have anticipated, joining CRT TV sets and black & white TV licences in keeping up a relatively ‘high minority’ around the […]

  3. From Cathode Ray Tubes To LED Flat Screens To Modern Curved Television
    From Cathode Ray Tubes To LED Flat Screens To Modern Curved Television May 15, 2015 at 5:17 pm

    […] images that it receives from a nearby broadcasting station is projected in three dimensions by the cathode ray tube or “CRT” and it also has an audio decoder to reproduce the sounds from the transmitted radio signals through […]

Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply.

Categories
  • 3DTV
  • Amazon
  • Apple TV
  • Bitcoin
  • Boxee
  • Cable TV
  • catch up tv
  • Celebrities
  • Chromecast
  • Classic Movies
    • Comedy
    • Horror
  • Cord Cutting
  • Featured
  • Full Episodes
  • Games console TV
  • Gaming
  • HD TV
  • HTPC
  • Hulu
  • Internet Music
  • Internet TV Articles
  • Internet TV Explained
  • Internet TV Hardware
  • Internet TV news
  • Internet TV Reviews
  • Internet TV Software
  • Internet TV Websites
  • iPad
  • iPlayer
  • IPTV
  • iTunes
  • Mobile Phone TV
    • Android Phones
    • iPhone
  • Movie Download reviews
  • Movies
  • Netflix
  • Online Radio
  • P2P Software
  • PPlive
  • PPstream
  • Press Release
  • Roku
  • Satellite TV
  • Smart TV
  • Sopcast
  • Sports
  • Spotlight
  • Tablet PC
  • Technology
  • TiVo
  • TV Show Reviews
  • TV Shows
  • TV Torrents
  • TVants
  • TVUplayer
  • Uncategorized
  • Videos
  • Vudu
  • Watch Movies
  • Wearables
Twitter Facebook Email RSS

More Services

XBMC Media Player Guide
Radio streams
Watch Classic Movies
TV Networks
Hardware
full episodes
Country search

Reference & Help

Media Players
Glossary
Guides and tutorials
Internet TV guide
Satellite TV on PC
Cord cutting guide
XML Sitemap
Sitemap
Link To Us
RSS Feeds

Follow us and contact..

Follow worldtvpconline on Twitter
Share This Page On Facebook
Share This Page On Twitter
Share This Page By Email
 
Still can't find what you're looking for? Search Site 
  Copyright © WorldTVPC.com 2013
Privacy policy | Legal Disclaimer | About us | Contact us | DMCA complaint | Advertise