Infineon, Philips reject smartcard cartel allegations, fines
A fourth company, Japan’s Renesas Technology Corp., also colluded with the other three to form a cartel the European Commission said but added that Renesas has been exempted from fines because it brought the alleged cartel to the authorities attention.
Smartcard chips are produced in the billions per year and used in SIM cards for mobile telephones, credit cards, identity cards, passports and pay TV conditional access cards.
The companies discussed and exchanged sensitive commercial information on pricing, customers, contract negotiations, production capacity or capacity utilisation and their future market conduct, in breach of European law, the European Commission said. The companies also created a network of bilateral contacts in order to determine their respective responses to customers’ requests to lower prices.
Infineon has been hit hardest with fines totalling €82.8 million, while €35 million are being levied against Samsung and €20 million against Philips. Samsung’s fine has been reduced by 30 percent because it cooperated with the authorities during the investigation.
The European Commission explored the possibility of settling the case with some of the companies in 2008 but in 2012 decided to discontinue settlement negotiations due to a lack of progress.
Philips divested its smartcard chip business through the spin-out of NXP Semiconductors in 2006 but it remains responsible for what happened during the period of the infringement, the commission said.
Philips and Infineon have both rejected the decision and plan to appeal the ruling.
"We firmly believe that claims of anti-competitive behaviour by former Philips smart card chips business are unfounded. As a result, Philips plans to appeal the decision," the company was quoted saying in a statement by Reuters.
"Infineon rejects the allegations as unfounded. Further, Infineon believes that its procedural rights were violated by the European Commission. Therefore, Infineon will review the decision very closely and is ready to appeal at the General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg," Infineon said in a statement.
Related links and articles:
European Commission press release
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