The LCD cartel between 2001 and 2006 had more than one supplier hired by Apple, according to theThe Wall Street Journal. In addition to Sharp, which affected it between September 2005 and December 2006 in the sale of iPod screens, Taiwanese Chi Mei Optoelectronics confessed to being involved in the scheme, after an extensive investigation by the US Department of Justice.
Chi Mei supplied LCDs for some models of Apple notebooks and recently signed a merger withInnolux, a subsidiary of Foxconn that technically was also a supplier of components for Ma products. As a cartel, LCD prices were kept so high that the sale of these components reached a turnover of US $ 70 billion a year, just after the illegal merger ended.
Since the US Department of Justice discovered the cartel, six manufacturers have confessed to participating, generating $ 860 million in fines, not counting the $ 220 million that Chi Mei will be forced to pay and testimonies from nine executives. In addition to Apple (which introduced products with very high prices in the period, due to the scheme), Dell and HP are among the biggest losers.
(via MacRumors)
