NewsLCD Firms Plead Guilty to Price Fixing, Ordered to Pay $585 Million
Posted 11/13/08 at 09:26:29 AM by Paul Lilly
Sharp, LG, and Chunghwa have each agreed to plead guilty to a price-fixing conspiracy related to LCD display panels and will pay $585 million in criminal fines, the Justice Department said. The plea agreements were filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, California.
"These price-fixing conspiracies affected millions of America consumers who use computers, cell phones, and numerous other household electronics every day," said Thomas Barnett, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust at the Justice Department n Washington.
The extent of the losses as a result of the alleged price fixing conspiracy remains unknown, but Barnett said he expected to outline the damages at the time of sentencing. According to the Justice Department, LG Phillips, who plead guilty to participating a conspiracy from 2001 to 2006 to set LCD panel pricing worldwide, will be hit the hardest and ordered to pay $400 million. That ranks as the second highest criminal fine ever imposed for price fixing.
Sharp will pay $120 for its alleged role in three separate conspiracies with unnamed partners who sold price-fixed panels to Dell for monitors and laptops, Motorola for Razr phones, and Apple for use in iPods. Chunghwa will pay $65 for participating with LG and other unnamed co-conspirators.
The Justice Department warned that the investigation is ongoing, meaning more charges could be brought against individuals from each firm or from other firms.
ReviewsLG GBW-H20L
Posted 08/11/08 at 12:00:00 PM by Katherine Stevenson
When we reviewed LG’s GGW-H20L Blu-ray burner in December 2007 we applauded its superior BD-R write speeds and ability to also read HD DVD media. Now that the latter feature is irrelevant, we welcome LG’s new GBW-H20L. It boasts all the same DVD and BD read and write specs as its predecessor, sans the HD DVD reader—and comes with a healthy price cut.
Hit the jump for the greatness.
NewsLG's BD300 Blu-ray Player Will Support SD Netflix Streaming
Posted 07/31/08 at 04:43:15 PM by Reed Porter
With the help of LG, Netflix just took another giant step into your living room. With the production of the LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Player, Netflix users will now be able to stream Netflix videos directly to their TV. But does this come at an additional cost? And what about high definition streaming?
Read the full story to find out.
NewsFlat Panel Sales Drop 11% for June
Posted 07/25/08 at 09:50:11 AM by Chris Moody
It looks like the sluggish economy is affecting LCD panel revenues, they dropped 11% in June, but they still represent a 12% on-year growth. Samsung Electronics remains the worldwide leader in terms revenues, followed by LG Display and AU Optronics, according to DisplaySearch.
There was $6.9 billion in total LCD revenues for June. No matter how you look at it, that is a lot of LCD panels.
Panel makers however see the price drop as a possible stimulant to boost demand. They believe prices will stabilize in August, and stand a chance of rising in September, driven by back to school demand.
That means look for your bargins now to complete your 3 or 4 monitor setup!
ReviewsLG Super Multi Blue GGW-H20LI
Posted 01/28/08 at 02:14:04 PM by Katherine Stevenson
It’s no surprise that high-def optical drives are getting less expensive while their specs improve—that’s the trajectory of all emergent technologies—but we are still taken aback by the dramatic strides LG’s GGW-H20LI represents. Just a few months ago, in our September issue, we reviewed this drive’s predecessor, the GGW-H10NI, and not only is its follow-up better in every respect, it’s half the price!
Click Read More for more.
ReviewsLG GGC-H20L
Posted 12/18/07 at 10:59:24 PM by Katherine Stevenson
So your DVD burner is getting a little long in the tooth and you’re ready for an upgrade, but you’re not all that keen on adopting next-gen tech. And who can blame you? Even the falling price of hardware doesn’t make up for the relatively slow burn times, costly media, and compatibility issues that plague Blu-ray burners (and the same would be true of HD DVD burners if you could even find them!). Trouble is, you’ve got a brand-new 27-inch LCD that’s just begging to display high-def movies. What’s a consumer to do? Well, you could buy a combo drive—one that lets you read next-gen discs and write data to fast, friendly CD and DVD, like the two models we review this month.
Click Read More for more.
ReviewsLG GGW-H10NI Super Multi Blue
Posted 09/24/07 at 01:00:02 PM by Katherine Stevenson
Before you get too excited about LG’s combo optical drive, bear in mind that while the GGW-H10NI Super Multi Blue can read both Blu-ray and HD DVD discs, it can write to only the former format. Still, this drive offers a degree of flexibility that no other next-gen drive we’ve tested has. You won’t be shut out of watching movies from studios that have allied themselves with just one of the high-def formats. Not surprisingly, this luxury doesn’t come cheap. At $1,200, the Super Multi Blue costs more than your average Blu-ray burner—by as much as $600.
Click Read More for more.
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