The settlement is the latest arising from lawsuits alleging
the creation of an international cartel designed to illegally inflate prices
and stifle competition in LCD panels between 1999 and 2006, affecting billions
of dollars of US commerce.
In December 2006, authorities in Japan, Korea, the European
Union and the United States revealed a probe into alleged anti-competitive
activity among LCD panel manufacturers. Many companies and executives have
since pleaded guilty to criminal antitrust violations and paid more than $890
million in fines.
The latest payout includes $538.6 million to resolve claims
by "indirect" purchasers that bought televisions and computers with
thin film transistor LCDs, as well as claims by eight states: Arkansas,
California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
It also includes payments of more than $14.7 million by five
of the companies to settle civil fine and penalty law claims by the states ,
the office of New York Attorney Gen. Eric Schneiderman said.
"This price-fixing scheme manipulated the playing field
for businesses that abide by the rules, and left consumers to pay artificially
higher costs for televisions, computers and other electronics,"
Schneiderman said in a statement on Tuesday.
The accord calls for Samsung to pay $240 million, Sharp
$115.5 million and Taiwan-based Chimei Innolux Corp. $110.3 million, settlement
papers filed on Friday with the US District Court in San Francisco show.
Hitachi Displays Ltd. will pay $39 million, HannStar Display
Corp., $25.7 million; Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd., $5.3 million, and Epson
Imaging Devices Corp., $2.9 million, the court documents show.
The settling companies also agreed to establish antitrust
compliance programs and to help prosecute other defendants.
Court approval is required, and the settling companies
continue to dispute the allegations, the court documents show.
The state penalties include $6 million to be paid by Sharp,
$5.7 million by Chimei, and smaller amounts by Epson, HannStar and Hitachi, a
spokeswoman for Schneierman said.
Other defendants have yet to settle, including Taiwan-based
AU Optronics Corp., one of the largest LCD panel manufacturers; South Korea's
LG Display Co. and Toshiba Corp.
An AU Optronics spokeswoman did not immediately respond to
an emailed request for a comment.
The accord follows a settlement this month by eight
companies, including Samsung and Sharp, to pay $388 million to settle
litigation by direct purchasers of the LCD panels.