Cuomo: LCD Suppliers Fixed Prices
NEW YORK (AP) -- New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is suing several major suppliers of liquid crystal display screens used in computers, televisions and cell phones, claiming buyers paid extra because of price fixing.
Following earlier settlements of similar federal charges by some of the companies, the suit filed Friday in state court in Manhattan seeks damages and restitution to state and local governments along with penalties for actions from 1996 to 2006 by companies in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan and their U.S. divisions.
Cuomo claims the cartel dominated the $70 billion market, costing New Yorker taxpayers "hundreds of millions of dollars."
Defendants are Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Toshiba, Hitachi Displays, LG, AU Optronics, Chi Mei, CMO Japan, and U.S. affiliates.
Samsung, Toshiba and Hitachi declined to make any immediate comment. Calls and e-mails to the other companies were not immediately returned.
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