Producers of capacitors fined EUR 254 million for cartel participation
The European Commission has fined eight Japanese companies for violation of the ban on cartels. The cartel was engaged in the supply of capacitors for e.g. the European market.
European Commission decision of 21 March 2018
By student intern Nina Fold von Bülow
In the spring of 2014, Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd and its parent company Panasonic Corporation filed an application for immunity for revealing the existence of a cartel between Elna, Hitachi Chemical, Holy Stone, Matsuo, NEC Tokin, Nichicon, Nippon Chemi-Con and Rubycon.
Under the immunity programme, many of the companies cooperated with the Commission in investigating the matter. The members of the cartel are all producers of capacitors and operate on a global scale, including in the EEA.
A capacitor is an electrical component storing energy. Capacitors are used in a wide variety of electronic products such as televisions, computers, smartphones and refrigerators.
Between 1998 and 2012, the nine Japanese capacitor producers operated a cartel exchanging commercially sensitive information about their products and market behaviour. In some instances, the cartel participants also coordinated their prices.
In setting the level of fines, the Commission took into account the companies' sales of capacitors in the European market, the serious nature of the infringement, its geographic scope covering the whole EEA, and the duration of the cartel.
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