Florida Attorney General Sues Hitachi-LG Storage

Florida attorney general Pam Bondi’s Office has sued an optical disc drive (ODD) maker over price-fixing allegations.

The complaint alleges that Hitachi-LG Storage, Inc. and its subsidiary, Hitachi-LG Storage Korea, Inc., participated in meetings, discussions, and communications to share competitively sensitive information, such as prices, sales, production, and bidding information in order to rig bids for ODDs sold to Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard company, and Microsoft Corporation.

ODDs are used to read and record data on optical disks, such as CDs and DVDs. ODDs are commonly found in computers and video game consoles. Additionally, some ODDs are designed to be attached externally to devices, such as computers.

"Price-fixing hurts healthy business competition and costs Florida’s businesses, consumers, and governmental agencies by requiring them to pay higher prices for products," stated attorney feneral Pam Bondi. "My office is committed to protecting Floridians, and we will work to obtain relief for those affected by this alleged price-fixing scheme."

Hitachi-LG Storage, Inc. was charged with a 15-count felony charge by the United States Department of Justice in the United States District Court in San Francisco, CA in September 2011. It subsequently paid a $21.1 million criminal fine and pleaded guilty to bid-rigging and price-fixing of ODDs.

In its complaint, the attorney general’s office is seeking equitable relief, damages, and civil penalties for Florida consumers, businesses, and governmental entities.

The complaint alleges that other companies participated as co-conspirators in the price-fixing conspiracy, including Hitachi, Ltd., LG Electronics, Inc., BenQ Corporation, BenQ America Corporation, Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., Lite-On IT Corporation, Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions Corporation, Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions USA, Inc., Sony Corporation, NEC Corporation, Sony NEC Optiarc, Inc., Sony Optiarc, Inc., Sony Optiarc America, Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation, Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Corporation Korea, Panasonic Corporation, Panasonic Corporation of North America, TEAC Corporation, TEAC America Inc., Quanta Storage Inc., and Quanta Storage America, Inc.