After the DRAM price-fixing allegations which saw hundreds of millions of dollars paid in fines and jail-terms for execs, came the SRAM price-fixing probe which is still underway, and now comes the LCD price-fixing action which has hit Samsung and LG Philips and involves Sharp and AU Optronics of Taiwan.
The authorities really seem to have it in for high-tech industry despite the fact that prices traditionally erode by 30 per cent a year and consumers have benefited enormously from the increasing sizes, at fast-decreasing prices, of flat panels.
If the authorities really wanted to help consumers they’d do something to help with the horrendous prices of making phone calls while abroad. The only way around it is to buy and register a phone in countries which you frequently visit.
It is scandalous that wireless network operators can charge both the maker of a call and the receiver of it. It goes against natural justice that you have to pay for a service you have not requested.
Admittedly, EU Commissioner Viviane Reding has tried to change this, but her actions have been vetoed, to the UK’s shame, by UK Trade Minister Margaret Hodge.
The wireless network operators, set on extracting every last penny out of consumers for using their flaky networks, are a far cry from the flat panel guys who have done a great job in bringing down prices and stimulating a massive growth in TV sales.
If the authorities don’t want to look as if their judgment is skewed, and lobbying has a large part to play in these decisions, then they should choose their targets more fairly.
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