Competition authorities around the world are probing makers of cathode ray televisions, including Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and South Korea's Samsung Group, for allegedly running an international price-fixing scheme.
A spokesman for Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which markets products under the Panasonic brand, on Friday confirmed Japan's Fair Trade Commission conducted an inspection of MT Picture Display Co., a subsidiary of the Osaka-based company.
A store attendant in South Korea inspects a group of cathode ray tube televisions. South Korean television maker Samsung says its CRT business is under investigation by competition authorities.
Associated Press
The spokesman did not say why the subsidiary was investigated, but the Japanese daily Nikkei reported it was because MT Picture is suspected of fixing prices on CRT televisions with other manufacturers.
Samsung, meanwhile, has confirmed that South Korean authorities are probing its CRT business.
European antitrust authorities are also investigating manufacturers. The European Commission said in a statement it was inspecting unnamed CRT makers.
"The commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EC Treaty rules on cartels and restrictive business practices," it said.
Japanese media reported that U.S. authorities are also part of the investigation.
The companies are suspected of forming a cartel around 2005 to keep the price of CRT televisions up. Demand for the traditional tube televisions has been falling in lockstep with the increasing popularity of plasma and LCD flat-panel screens. Matsushita expects CRT sales to drop to 69 million by 2010 from 112 million in 2006.
CRT screens, however, are still selling in developing countries, with Japanese media reports estimating global sales at $4.3 billion U.S.
Panasonic is the global market leader in plasma screens. Matsushita combined its CRT operations with those of Toshiba Corp. earlier this year when that company wanted out of its partnership.
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