LG Display's LCD price-fixing cost it €215M — and the fine stuck

On 8 December 2010, the European Commission fined LG Display €215 million for its role in a price-fixing cartel covering liquid crystal display (LCD) panels. The Commission fined LG Display, Chunghwa, AU Optronics, Chimei InnoLux and HannStar Display a total of €649 million; Samsung avoided a fine by alerting the Commission to the cartel.

Between October 2001 and February 2006, the companies agreed prices for LCD screens — including price ranges and minimum prices — and exchanged information on future production, capacity utilisation and pricing. Members held around 60 meetings, mostly in Taiwan hotels, in what they called the 'Crystal meetings'. Documents urged secrecy and minimal written communication, a sign they knew the conduct was unlawful.

The agreements directly affected EEA customers, since the vast majority of televisions, computer monitors and notebooks sold in the EEA carried panels made in Asia. The Commission found the contacts between the companies formed a single, continuous cartel.

LG Display appealed, arguing in part that sales of panels to its own parent companies should not count toward the fine. The General Court upheld the Commission's decision but cut the fine to €210 million, and on 23 April 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed LG Display's final appeal, confirming the €210 million penalty.