Eu imposes heavy penalties on 8 appliance manufacturers for fixing prices

According to foreign media, the European Commission on Monday found nine companies including Nippon Chemi-Con guilty of price-fixing aluminum electrolytic capacitors and tank electrolytic capacitors, which are widely used in smartphones, home appliances and car parts, in violation of the EU competition Law. Sanyo Electric and its parent, Panasonic, were involved but avoided fines after they turned themselves in to reveal the monopoly. As a result, eight of the companies were fined a total of about 254 million euros (1.98 billion yuan).

The European Union's antitrust commissioner Margrethe Margrethe. Margrethe Vestager, the regulator, said the eight companies had colluded to further their own interests at the expense of consumers in the capacitor market.

In addition to Sanyo Electric and its parent, Panasonic, Hitachi Chemical, Rubycon, Elna, NEC Tokin and Vishay were found to have monopolized capacitor prices Polytech, Matsuo, Nichicon, Nippon Chemi-Con. Among them, Fine art was fined 97.9 million euros (about 764 million yuan), followed by Nichicon 72.9 million euros (about 569 million yuan), calendar formation was fined about 18 million euros (about 140 million yuan).

The Commission found that between 1998 and 2012 the companies conspired to manipulate the capacitor market, exchanging commercially sensitive information, including future prices, pricing targets and supply and demand information, and entering into secret pricing agreements. Although the participants are Japanese companies and most of the meetings are held in Japan, monopolies operate globally.

According to Yahoo Finance, As of 8:24 a.m. Taipei time on Friday, Gamigong fell 2.18% and Nichicon 1.08%. As of 8:23 a.m., ELNA fell 0.81%, Matsuo Motor 0.30%; Hitachi Chemical was down 0.29% at 8:25 a.m.

It is not the first time that Jia Mei and other capacitor factories have been fined. In March 2016, Japan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) issued a press release announcing that it imposed a total fine of 6.69796 million yen on five aluminum and tantalum electrolytic capacitor factories in Japan, including Nippon Chemi-Con, for violating the exclusive prohibition law.

Among them, The fine was about 1.435 billion yen for Gamima, 3.64 billion yen for Nichicon, 1.067 billion yen for Rubycon, 427 million yen for Matsuo Electric and 127 million yen for NEC Tokin of NEC Group.

According to Japan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC), the capacitor manufacturers met in the name of a seminar or individually during 2010 and 2011 to discuss product prices and jointly determine price increases. During the Lehman Storm in 2008 and the March 11 earthquake in 2011, due to the decrease in sales, the above capacitor factories manipulated prices and jointly monopolized in order to ensure profits.

Technology companies should be able to outdo competitors through product innovation, but they should be punished for choosing to fix prices so that consumers end up paying.

Attached to the world famous capacitor factory

USA: AVX, KEMET, Skywell, VISHAY

English: NOVER

Germany: EPCOS, WIMA

Denmark: JENSEN.

Japan: ELNA, FUJITSU, HITACHI, KOA, Kyocera, Matsushita, muRata, NEC, Nichicon, Nipponchemi-Con, Panasoni), Raycon, Rubycon, SANYO, TAIYOYUDE N, TDK, TK

South Korea: SEM, SAMWHA, SAMYOUNG

Taiwan, China WALSIN, YAGEO, CAPSUN, CAPXON, Chocon, Choyo, ELITE, EVERCON, GEMCON, GSC, G-Luxon, HEC, HERMEI, JACKCON, JPCON, LELON, LTEC, OST, SACON, SUSCON, TAICON and Teao

Hong Kong, China: FUJICON, SAMXON

Mainland China: aihua technology, YuYang science and technology, the torch, huawei electronic, gold fukang, elegance and tech center, nantong jianghai, date field (ITACAP), photoelectron, foshan Ming Ming electronics, haifeng, foshan three water day sunny, haimen sanxin, shenzhen xin Long Mao electronics, yangzhou shengda, staged, nantong with fly, day, e, etc.