Samsung, Philips and Panasonic reach $528 million settlement deal for cathode ray tube class action

A total of $528 million class action settlement will be presented by Samsung SDI, Koninklijke Philips, Panasonic, Hitachi and Toshiba to the US courts for final approval.

Between 2007 and 2008, a class action was filed in the US by a number of consumers against various companies accused of manipulating CRT prices. US agencies says the involved companies held meetings in various locations in China, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan to conspire on the CRT price targets and allot market share. Samsung pleaded guilty in 2011 after various antitrust regulators along with the US Department of Justice conducted investigations on the CRT price fixing case.

This year, Samsung SDI agreed on a $225 million settlement while Philips contributed $175 million and Panasonic will pay $70 million. Other companies involved are Hitachi and Toshiba. Eligible US claimants involved in the class action will benefit from the total settlement fund of $528 million. A public notice from the Federal Court announced that "If you bought a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), or a TV or computer monitor that contained a CRT, you could get money from settlement totaling $563m." According to court officials, a $25 minimum payment is set to be paid to each.

Meanwhile, Target Corp has settled in April its antitrust complaint against LG Electronics and Mitsubishi Electric Corp involving a similar CRT price fixing issue. The complaint says that the manufacturers controlled the supply of CRT to artificially increase prices of electronic products that use it. The lawsuit adds that these products are distributed to certain markets and companies to override the normal supply chain and illegally boost profits.

The CRT price fixing has reportedly started between March 1995 and November 2007. Several other companies have also agreed on a settlement on lawsuits filed against them including Toshiba, Hitachi Ltd and Chunghwa.