On Monday 12 December, the European Commission announced its decision to fine the companies Sony, Panasonic and Sanyo a total of €166 million for having worked with Samsung SDI to coordinate their prices and exchange sensitive information on sales of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.
These batteries are used in devices such as laptops and mobile phones. Samsung SDI revealed the existence of the cartel to the Commission and therefore received total immunity. All of the companies involved acknowledged their involvement and agreed to settle by transaction, which will have reduced the levels of their respective fines slightly.
By means of bilateral and, in some cases, multilateral contacts, these companies agreed on temporary price increases in 2004 and 2007, on the basis of a temporary increase in the price of cobalt, a raw material used in the production of lithium-ion batteries. They also exchanged commercially sensitive information, such as their projections regarding supply and demand or prices. They also shared their intentions with regard to certain calls for tender launched by manufacturers of mobile telephones, laptops or electrical devices. Contact between the cartel participants took place mainly in Asia and occasionally in Europe. (Original version in French by Élodie Lamer)