Brazil: Authority probes global cartel of hard drive manufacturers

Brazilian competition authorities announced last week that an investigation into an alleged international cartel is underway, involving five major manufacturers of hard drives and external memory accessories for computers—Hutchinson Technology, Magnecomp Precision, NHK Spring, TDK Corporation and SAE Magnetics.

The competition regulator, CADE, will determine whether these companies agreed to manipulate the price of the so-called “suspension assemblies”—a component in hard drives that keeps the magnetic media reader in its correct position. CADE claims to have evidence of customer allocation and price-fixing. In addition, the companies “… also shared sensitive information,” the regulator said.

The violations would have been perpetrated by 38 individuals linked to the companies, implemented through meetings and emails that date back to 2003.
Full Content: Business Insider

Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.