Japan’s Fair Trade Commission has fined electronics manufacturer Sharp $3 million as part of an investigation into the price fixing of LCD modules for the original Nintendo DS model and the DS Lite. The company has been instructed to pay the fee by March 19, 2009. The FTC’s move comes on the heels of a much bigger LCD cartel case in the United States, where Sharp, along with LG Display Co Ltd and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd, agreed to plead guilty and pay a total $585 million in fines. The Japanese monopoly watchdog said Sharp and Hitachi Displays, 50.2 percent owned by Hitachi Ltd, conspired to control selling prices of their LCD panels to Nintendo.

Sharp, the world’s third-largest LCD TV maker said it believes it had not engaged in any activities that violate the antimonopoly law, and that it may request a hearing. We wonder if this involves many more players who are involved in delaying our LCD buying decisions.
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