Japanese firms fined for capacitor price fixing

Korea’s corporate watchdog said Sunday that it decided to slap a total of 36 billion won ($32 million) in fines on nine Japanese companies for allegedly colluding to maintain or raise prices of capacitors, a key electrical component used in smartphones and many other electric devices.

According to the Fair Trade Commission (FTC), Tokin and eight other Japanese firms have colluded to rig prices of capacitors sold in Korea and other nations, between July 2000 and January 2014

They agreed to avoid excessive price cuts and share related information in order to jointly respond to calls for price cuts, according to the FTC.

The watchdog said the cartel activities have affected prices of capacitors worth 737 billion won sold during the cited period to Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and other local electronic companies.

Yonhap