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News Asus hit with £56.5m price-fixing fine

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by bit-tech, 25 Jul 2018.

  1. bit-tech

    bit-tech Supreme Overlord Lover of bit-tech Administrator

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  2. Guest-56605

    Guest-56605 Guest

    Asus Tax, Myth??

    Busted :lol: :lol: :lol:
     
    TheMadDutchDude and MLyons like this.
  3. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    £56.5m?

    They probably made double that in the last quarter
     
  4. Mister_Tad

    Mister_Tad Will work for nuts Super Moderator

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    I was discussing price-fixing after-sales quality assurance with friendly local AV dealer just recently. It's not just Denon/Marantz... Arcam, Sonos, Bluesound, B&W... all sorts do it and always have done.

    I'm sure there's more nuance to it in writing, but basically there's an expectation of a minimum advertised price else the manufacturer pulls particular items from your inventory, or even strikes you off the approved dealer list entirely. Online ordering is often disallowed as well, carving up territories and further limiting any cannibalistic competition - all in the name of "ensuring the quality of after-sales support" or something ridiculous like that. I could never fathom how they've gotten away with it for so long.

    That doesn't necessarily mean you're always paying list as there are various ways around it in the case of AV, where the dealers should know their way around it and be able to be flexible with pricing (if they want to be). With PC components, I guess it just is what it is and you either accept it or take your business elsewhere.
     
  5. Wakka

    Wakka Yo, eat this, ya?

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    And nobody is surprised. Just like any sector of business, the big boys pull all the strings and move and orchestrate the industry in whatever way makes them the most money. It's no different to what is going on with Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron - hope they get taken to the cleaners, the lot of them.
     
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  6. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    The fines for price fixing are worth paying if you're an industry leader, like Samsung or someone similar - a few hundred million in penalties every few years when the benefits are in the billions per year.
     
  7. jenners

    jenners What's a Dremel?

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    they should start bringing out quarterly charges then lol.

    that would soon eat into their profits and make them think twice.

    trouble is the rules as most know are designed to make the rich richer sadly.
     
  8. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    Technically their not meant to be getting away with it as resale price maintenance has been illegal in the UK for half a century, unfortunately there's not been much in the way of enforcement over those years.

    It's probably pretty difficult to prove, going on the companies named in the article getting rewarded for their cooperation, a RRP is meant to be a recommended retail price, trying to prove a company is doing more than just recommending a minimum price is, i would imagine, really difficult.
     
    Last edited: 2 Aug 2018
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