300°

Sony, LG, Samsung, Hitachi, Toshiba accused of price fixing

A home electronics retail store has filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Toshiba Corp., LG Electronics Inc., Hitachi Ltd. and several subsidiaries, accusing the electronics manufacturers of colluding to fix prices in the U.S. optical disc drive (ODD) market.

In addition, U.S. Department of Justice has filed subpoenas.

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computerworld.com
morganfell5178d ago

They are going to waste a lot of money because certain consumer areas are excluded from the Sherman Law (ant-trust) and game consoles fall under that category as they are a regulated industry. This isn't the first time this has happened.

Elven65178d ago

This isn't specifically over game consoles but over disc drives which are used in a variety of things, including game consoles.

swiftshot935178d ago

If this true, then HOLY SH1T.

kwyjibo5178d ago

Since when were consumer electronics a regulated industry? Optical disk drives certainly aren't.

morganfell5178d ago (Edited 5178d ago )

Consoles have been a regulated industry since day one. It's why Best Buy or any other supplier can't make up their own price for a PS3 or a 360. They can't just say, "We are willing to lose some money because of stock" etc. They can't lower the price without the direct permission of the relevant manufacturer. Otherwise they would be subject to price-fixing suits. That has happened with software once or twice as well as video cards but consoles don't fall under this category.

The regulation isn't the same as the health insurance industry for example but it does exist for certain electronics.

Edit@below,

You are correct that consumer protection groups hold a lot of sway but in this case I think the consumer protection challenge will be a small part and less than considerable considering whom they are up against. I think the main challenge will come from distributors.

Production of disc drives is a industry and I think in the end it will be clearly determined it is a regulated industry and exempt to anti-trust.

Darkstorn5178d ago

@1.0-
It is true that the Sherman anti-trust isn't relevant in this situation, but consumer protection groups will be on the backs of these corporations if anything is proven.
I for one think price fixing is all too common in the world of consumer electronics, so hopefully some prodding from consumer groups will get HDTV manufacturers to drop the price of their products.

Noctis Aftermath5178d ago

Why does the picture only say sony? if you are going to include a picture include one with all their names.

morganfell5178d ago

I hate to point it out Noctis but the contributor name says it all...

SilentNegotiator5178d ago

If it's true, this could be good that things are getting taken care of.

NeutralGamer5178d ago

Because this was probably submitted with the intention of dissing Sony...

indysurfn5177d ago

Only a fool will defend a company for fixing prices, and stealing from them. It appears there are plenty of fools around.

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 5177d ago
jakethemuss5178d ago

Doesn't mean it'll be proven true. Its a business world, most market have some degree of price fixing, but you'll never find evidence of it.

hazardman5178d ago

they aint talking Microsoft, so no need to bring them up.

NeutralGamer5178d ago

This is N4F...
Aparantly you cant bring Sony up without bringing Microsoft up...

BrianC62345178d ago

This is a stupid lawsuit. Way to waste taxpayer money government. I can go to the store and buy optical drives from these companies for very little. I see no price fixing. And as for the part about price fixing for optical drives for the PS3, why would Sony want to keep them high? It makes no sense.

ReBurn5178d ago

You wouldn't see price fixing by going to the store and purchasing a drive. You wouldn't see it at all. That's the point.

indysurfn5177d ago

That was a douchbag comment if I ever saw one. 'Tax payer money'? Hey earth to retard let me let you in on a secret. Everything the Government does is with tax payer money. So even going to the bathroom is on tax payer money! They are payed to stop companies from fixing prices. They are not paid to ignore it. Douchebag! There are a lot of fools waiting to repeat every douchebag statement under the sun. Only a fool will defend a company for stealing from him.

90°

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140°

Keoken Interactive lays off majority of team after failing to find funding at GDC

Deliver Us Mars developer Keoken Interactive has laid off the majority of its staff after struggling to secure funding …

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
mastershredder1d 19h ago

The industry model and standards and who's in place to approve/disapprove have changed ^ what Keoken is feeling now is much like the Mobile burst 15 years ago. Expect more to come out of your own finances. Investors are treating games like movies and now (thank$ a lot for involving yourself hollywood) only the big (and money blind) investors get involved, effectively killing a lot of content that would come out with proper non-gate-kept and/or with incentivized funding.

Markdn1d 18h ago

And when you only make a fraction of your games worth on gamepass you suffer

Tacoboto1d 15h ago

Palworld and Manor Lords are so suffering.

RiseNShine1d 7h ago (Edited 1d 7h ago )

Sorry but i couldn't care less, Deliver us Mars was as woke game as they come, climate change disaster, all female cast plus only a comic relief indian guy (it takes only 5 minutes into the game for the main female character to say how smart she is compared to the guy), evil white guys, ugly females, then add generic gameplay and puzzles (how many times do you have to cut things with a laser for gods sake), you can't change anything in how the events develop so 0 agency in the story, sub par graphics even while using UE4. So well, go woke go broke, that's how it works.

Miacosa1d 3h ago (Edited 1d 3h ago )

That stinks but with a 68 average critic rating on their games probably made it difficult for people to invest considering there is a bloat of games getting made these days.

ROCKY2823h ago

You guys will be back with team strength and funding !

210°

PS5 Was The Market Leader In Unit & Dollar Sales For Q1 2024 And March In US

Mat Piscatella of analyst firm Circana has revealed that the PS5 was the market leader in North America for both unit and dollar sales during not only March 2024, but the first quarter of the year as a whole.

Writing on Twitter, Piscatella revealed that spending for video game hardware in February 2024 dropped 32% in comparison to the same period last year, totalling $391 million. In addition, spending for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch each fell a minimum of 30% year-on-year.

S2Killinit1d 23h ago

This is North America only.

Cacabunga1d 21h ago

What will happen when Sony announce a new Uncharted, Killzone, Tsushima or Horizon ..

ChronoJoe1d 21h ago

Ah yes, Killzone that'll light the world on fire.

I'm joking but I do wish it were likely or more popular.

shinoff21831d 16h ago

I'd rather an upgrade over some fps personally. Like a true rpg not some action game with a couple of rpg lite mechanics in it.

Jingsing1d 12h ago

To be fair Sony usually know when to let a franchise go dormant, They gave Killzone over 6 different games and it never reached that summit. You end up in a situation like Microsoft if you just keep hammering out Halo and Gears and Forza etc. Microsoft should be smart enough to let them games go.

Demetrius1d 6h ago (Edited 1d 6h ago )

I thoroughly enjoy my open world games, but highest interest will always be the shooter genre lol it's just something about a good well crafted shooter with lore to it something like the Max payne series

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 6h ago
TheColbertinator1d 22h ago

Somehow I doubt all of that spiel.

ravens5223h ago

Lmao. Perfect example of the denial.

Hofstaderman1d 21h ago

But PS5 and Switch still outsells XBOX embarrassingly even with overall consoles sales decline.

Giga_Gaia1d 21h ago

At this point, I think PS5 and Switch sell more in one month than Xbox does in an entire quarter...

Ironmike1d 14h ago

Stop being sad mt just enjoy ur console of choice and just accept there's not only ps5 in the world

1d 19h ago
Elda1d 21h ago

This is not surprising in the slightest. The song will continue to remain the same.

romulus231d 19h ago

And in other news wet is water.

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