eu fines japanese rechargeable battery makers over cartel - 18650 rechargeable lithium ion battery
BRUSSELS (Reuters)-
The European Commission said Monday it had fined three Japanese producers of rechargeable lithium.
Ion battery 0. 166 billion euros (139.
13 million)
Because they were involved in a price.
The cartel was manipulated from 2004 to 2007.
The commission said the companies and South Korea's Samsung SDI have agreed on a temporary price increase and exchanged commercially sensitive information such as forecasts or plans for bids from handset manufacturers, laptops or power tools.
Their action is to avoid fierce competition in the market.
Sony received a fine of 29.
8 million euros, Panasonic 38.
9 million euros and Sanyo [MATEIH. UL]97. 1 million euros.
Samsung SDI escaped the fine as it revealed to the Commission the existence of the cartel.
The commission said all companies had admitted to being involved in the cartel and agreed to a settlement.
European Competition Commissioner Margaret Vestager said in a statement: "Today's decision sanctions four rechargeable battery producers whose collusion affects the prices of some of the goods sold to European consumers
"It also sends an important signal to companies: if European consumers are affected by cartels, the European Commission will investigate them even if anti-competitive contacts occur outside of Europe.
Rechargeable lithium
Ion batteries are the most common rechargeable batteries used in laptops and power tools, as well as in small devices such as smartphones and tablets.