Fine from the European Commission to capacitor manufacturing companies, for agreeing for years on the prices of these fundamental components used in all electronic devices.
The truth is that this fine I would not have imagined in my life. The European Commission has fined a large number of technology companies for affecting the value or retouching the components. This fine has been imposed on an association of several companies in the industry related to Japanese capacitors, which agreed on a price manipulation system. They seem to have discovered that capacitor prices have increased between the years 1998 and 2012.
The document mentions the companies: Sanyo, Hitachi, Rubycon, ELNA, Tokin, NEC, Matsuo, Nichicon, Nippon Chemi-Con, Vishay Polytech, Holy Stone Holdings and Holy Stone Enterprises, among others. The fines, however Tokin, Elna, Rubycon and Hitachi have benefited from a reduction in fines, through cooperation in the development of the investigation.
Nippon Chemi-Con has been the one that has taken the biggest fine, with a total figure of € 97.921.000. The one that has got rid of everything is Sanyo, who has sold to part of the aforementioned companies and was the one that notified the European Commission of this illegal practice. Sanyo has been clever: it has manipulated prices and generated millions and then it has given away all the companies with which it was associated in exchange for total immunity. What a move.
Capacitors are an essential part of almost all electronic products, from smartphones to the appliances we use in our homes, electronic systems in our cars and wind turbines that produce electricity, Commissioner Margrethe Vestager has said of the ruling.
The nine companies fined today colluded to maximize their profits. This may have happened not only at the expense of manufacturers but also consumers. Our decision again makes it clear that we will not tolerate anti-competitive conduct that may affect European consumers, even if anti-competitive contacts take place outside Europe.
Source: TPU
