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Information: U.S. v. Samsung SDI Company, Ltd.

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LIDIAMAHER (CSBN 222253)
MAY LEE HEYE (CSBN 209366)
TAI S. MILDER (CSBN 267070)
Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
450 Golden Gate Avenue
Box 36046, Room 10-0101
San Francisco, CA 94102
Telephone: (415) 436-6660

Attorneys for the United States

 E-filing

FILED

2011  MAR 18   A 10: 00

RICHARD W. WIEKING
CLERK, U.S. DISTRICT COURT
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA /s/
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,    


                  v.


SAMSUNG SDI COMPANY, LTD.,

                  Defendant.


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Case No. CR 11 0162 CRB

INFORMATION

VIOLATION:
Title 15, United States Code,
Section 1 (Conspiracy in
Restraint of Trade)

San Francisco Venue

FILED: 03/18/2011


The United States of America, acting through its attorneys, charges:

I.
DESCRIPTION OF THE OFFENSE

1. SAMSUNG SDI COMPANY, LTD. ("defendant") is made the defendant on the charge stated below.

2. From at least as early as January 1997, until at least as late as March 2006, the defendant and its coconspirators entered into and engaged in a combination and conspiracy in the United States and elsewhere to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing prices, reducing output, and allocating market shares of color display tubes ("CDTs"). The combination and conspiracy engaged in by the defendant and its coconspirators was in unreasonable restraint of interstate and foreign trade and commerce in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act (15 U.S.C. § 1).

3. The charged combination and conspiracy consisted of a continuing agreement, understanding, and concert of action among the defendant and its coconspirators, the substantial terms of which were to agree to fix prices, reduce output, and allocate market shares of CDTs.

4. For the purpose of forming and carrying out the charged combination and conspiracy, the defendant and its coconspirators did those things that they combined and conspired to do, including, among other things:

  1. participating in meetings, conversations, and communications in Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia, China, and elsewhere to discuss the prices, output, and market shares of CDTs;


  2. agreeing, during those meetings, conversations, and communications, to charge prices of CDTs at certain target levels or ranges;


  3. agreeing, during those meetings, conversations, and communications, to reduce output of CDTs by shutting down CDT production lines for certain periods of time;


  4. agreeing, during those meetings, conversations, and communications, to allocate target market shares for the CDT market overall and for certain CDT customers;


  5. issuing price quotations and reducing output in accordance with the agreements reached; and


  6. exchanging information on sales, production, market share, and pricing of CDTs, for the purpose of monitoring and enforcing adherence to the agreed-upon prices, output reduction, and market share allocation.
II.
DEFENDANT AND COCONSPIRATORS

5. SAMSUNG SDI COMPANY, LTD. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the Republic of Korea. During the period covered by this Information, SAMSUNG SDI COMPANY, LTD. engaged in the business of producing and selling CDTs to customers in the United States and elsewhere.

6. Various corporations and individuals, not made defendants in this Information, participated as coconspirators in the offense charged in this Information and performed acts and made statements in furtherance of it.

7. Whenever in this Information reference is made to any act, deed, or transaction of any corporation, the allegation means that the corporation engaged in the act, deed, or transaction by or through its officers, directors, employees, agents, or other representatives while they were actively engaged in the management, direction, control, or transaction of its business or affairs.

III.

TRADE AND COMMERCE

8. CDTs are a type of cathode ray tube. Cathode ray tubes consist of evacuated glass envelopes that contain an electron gun and a phosphorescent screen. When electrons strike the screen, light is emitted, creating an image on the screen. CDTs are the specialized cathode ray tubes manufactured for use in computer monitors and other products with similar technological requirements.

9. During the period covered by this Information, the defendant and its coconspirators sold and distributed CDTs in a continuous and uninterrupted flow of interstate and foreign trade and commerce to customers located in states or countries other than the states or countries in which the defendant and its coconspirators produced CDTs.

10. The business activities of the defendant and its coconspirators that are the subject of this Information were within the flow of, and substantially affected, interstate and foreign trade and commerce.

IV.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE

11. The combination and conspiracy charged in this Information was carried out, in part, in the Northern District of California, within the five years preceding the filing of this Information.

ALL IN VIOLATION OF TITLE 15, UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 1.



_______________/s/________________
Christine A. Varney
Assistant Attorney General


_______________/s/________________
Scott D. Hammond
Deputy Assistant Attorney General

United States Department of Justice
Antitrust Division











_______________/s/________________
Melinda L. Haag
United States Attorney
Northern District of California 		_______________/s/________________
Phillip H. Warren
Chief, San Francisco Office


_______________/s/________________
Peter K. Huston
Assistant Chief, San Francisco Office


_______________/s/________________
Lidia Maher
May Lee Heye
Tai S. Milder
Attorneys
U.S. Department of Justice
Antitrust Division
450 Golden Gate Avenue
Box 36046, Room 10-0101
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 436-6660
Related Case
U.S. v. Samsung SDI Company, LTD.
Updated April 18, 2023