LG, Sharp and Chunghwa have pleaded guilty for fixing prices for their LCD screens which have been sold to different other companies, thus imposing a specific price, making life harder for consumers worldwide. The South Korean company, LG, will pay a fine of a mind numbing $400 million, one of the biggest fines ever issued by the Department of Justice, and will have to regain the trust of their loyal customers and consumers alike.

The Japanese company Sharp will pay a fine of $120 million for the same charge, its LCD monitors being sold to Dell, Apple and Motorola. The displays sold to these companies were used in everything starting from laptop screens to displays for mobile phones. This conspiracy of fixing prices and influencing the life of the economy is a real serious matter, as a monopoly could have been installed, denying access to other companies and crushing all competition. The antitrust law in the US has been created especially for these kind of situations which violate the right to fair competition and fair trade. Sharp has declared that it understands the gravity of the situation and will try to do anything possible to regain the trust of the general public.

Chunghwa, based in Taiwan, will pay a fine of $65 million for fixing their prices for LCD displays and so controlling the market, installing a monopoly. Samsung wasn’t charged with anything and it is not known whether the company cooperated with investigators or received legal immunity in the investigation. Currently Samsung is the world’s largest LCD manufacturer.