Nokia files suit over LCD pricing scandal

Company seeks repayment over admitted price-fixing

Nokia has filed suit against several firms over price-fixing on LCD displays.

The company officially filed the suit in California last week, seeking cash for overcharging and price fixing on LCD components. Nokia is also filing charges over LCD and CRT price-fixing in the UK.

Among those targeted in the suit are Toshiba, Samsung and LG. Each of the companies named in the suit have already admitted to running a price-fixing operation in which the vendors conspired to raise the cost of the displays for device manufacturers.

The vendors previously admitted to raising prices in a scandal that broke late last year. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said that the firms conspired to fix the prices for a period ranging from 2001 to 2006.

While the DOJ hit the vendors in the case with fines totalling some $585mil, the handset and system manufacturers who were most affected by the price-fixing have also sought reimbursement from the LCD vendors. Last month AT &T filed suit claiming that the price-fixing cost the telco to take a hit on the sales of some 300 million subsidized handsets.