The European Commission said Sony, Panasonic and Sanyo, together with Samsung SDI, "coordinated prices and exchanged sensitive information on supplies of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries" in breach of EU competition rules between February 2004 and November 2007.
The cartel activity mainly took place in Asia, but meetings between the companies occasionally happened in Europe, the Commission said. The companies shared information such as "supply and demand forecasts, price forecasts or intentions concerning particular competitive bids organised by specific manufactures of products such as phones, laptops or power tools", the Commission said.
Sony, Panasonic and Sanyo all reached a settlement with the Commission which acknowledged their infringement. The companies benefited from a reduction of the fines they were served under the Commission's leniency programme for their cooperation with the regulator's investigations. The Commission applied a further reduction of 10% to the fines imposed in view of the parties' acknowledgment of their participation in the cartel and of their liability under the Commission's 2008 Settlement Notice.
The final fine served on Sony was € 29,802,000. Panasonic was fined €38,890,000 and Sanyo fined €97,149,000. Samsung SDI was not fined at all as it disclosed the cartel arrangements to the Commission.
EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: "Millions of Europeans use laptops, mobile phones and power tools that run on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Today's decision sanctions four rechargeable battery producers whose collusion affected the prices of a number of goods sold to European consumers. It also sends an important signal to companies: if European consumers are affected by a cartel, the Commission will investigate it even if the anticompetitive contacts took place outside Europe."