Chi Mei Optoelectronics, Price Fixing, California 2006

WASHINGTON – Chi Mei Optoelectronics, a TFT-LCD producer and seller, has agreed to plead guilty and pay $220 million in criminal fines for its role in a conspiracy to fix prices in the sale of liquid crystal display panels, the government announced today.

According to a one-count felony charge filed today in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Chi Mei Optoelectronics participated in a conspiracy to fix the prices of TFT-LCD panels sold worldwide from September 14, 2001, to December 1, 2006. The company has agreed to cooperate with the government’s ongoing antitrust investigation.

TFT-LCD panels are used in computer monitors and notebooks, televisions, mobile phones, and other electronic devices. By the end of the conspiracy period, the worldwide market for TFT-LCD panels was valued at $70 billion. Companies directly affected by the LCD price-fixing conspiracy are some of the largest computer and television manufacturers in the world, including Apple, Dell, and HP.

According to the charge, Chi Mei Optoelectronics carried out the conspiracy by agreeing during meetings, conversations, and communications to charge prices of TFT-LCD panels at certain pre-determined levels and issuing price quotations in accordance with the agreements reached. As a part of the conspiracy, the company exchanged information on sales of TFT-LCD panels for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon prices.

Chi Mei Optoelectronics, which is based in Tainan, Taiwan, is charged with price fixing in violation of the Sherman Act. Each violation carries a maximum fine of $100 million for corporations. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by the victims of the crime, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine.

Chi Mei Optoelectronics has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $220 million fine for its role in the conspiracy. This is in addition to the company’s agreement to cooperate with the government’s ongoing antitrust investigation.

Including today’s charges, as a result of this investigation, six companies have pleaded guilty or have agreed to plead guilty and have been sentenced to pay or have agreed to pay criminal fines totaling more than $860 million. Additionally, nine executives have been charged to date in the government’s ongoing investigation.

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