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> the TV/Monitor market is price colluded to hell. How do you figure? TVs are cheaper and bigger than ever - they're practically giving them away. My understa

by tveita 13y ago

> the TV/Monitor market is price colluded to hell. How do you figure? TVs are cheaper and bigger than ever - they're practically giving them away. My understanding was that producers are pumping gimmicks like 3d and huge curved screens because there are absolutely no margins left in the commodity TV/monitor market.

mikeash 13y ago
Nah, I'm sure ten square feet of delicate electronics crammed with millions of transistors costs pennies to manufacture....
- anon1385 13y ago
  This seems to be a post implying that price fixing in the electronics industry is unthinkable because electronics are complex to manufacture. The actual history of the industry would indicate that price fixing is common: the LCD[1], RAM[2], optical drives[3][4], GPU[5] and CPU[6] markets have all faced massive scandals involving price fixing or other anti competitive collusion, often resulting in huge fines. [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aP1P0CBFZssE http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aP1P0... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRAM_price_fixing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRAM_price_fixing [3] http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9243591/HP_sues_seven_optical_drive_makers_over_price_fixing http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9243591/HP_sues_seven... [4] http://www.pcworld.com/article/240937/hitachilg_data_storage_to_plead_guilty_on_pricefixing.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/240937/hitachilg_data_storage... [5] http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/28/nvidia-details-settlement-for-price-fixing-fiasco/ http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/28/nvidia-details-settlement... [6] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/business/global/14compete.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/business/global/14compete....
  - mikeash 13y ago
    I'm really just trying to imply that price fixing in the TV industry seems unlikely because TVs are unbelievably cheap compared to what I know (admittedly, little) of the cost to manufacture them. Price fixing in electronics seems entirely possible, and I don't doubt that it happens. But if it was happening in the world of TVs, surely TVs would cost more than they do now.
anon1385 13y ago
Well there was that whole thing where the biggest companies in the industry plead guilty to a massive price fixing conspiracy over many years and paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines… http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/November/08-at-1002.html http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/November/08-at-1002.html

by tveita 13y ago

mikeash 13y ago

Nah, I'm sure ten square feet of delicate electronics crammed with millions of transistors costs pennies to manufacture....

anon1385 13y ago
This seems to be a post implying that price fixing in the electronics industry is unthinkable because electronics are complex to manufacture. The actual history of the industry would indicate that price fixing is common: the LCD[1], RAM[2], optical drives[3][4], GPU[5] and CPU[6] markets have all faced massive scandals involving price fixing or other anti competitive collusion, often resulting in huge fines. [1] http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aP1P0CBFZssE http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aP1P0... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRAM_price_fixing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRAM_price_fixing [3] http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9243591/HP_sues_seven_optical_drive_makers_over_price_fixing http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9243591/HP_sues_seven... [4] http://www.pcworld.com/article/240937/hitachilg_data_storage_to_plead_guilty_on_pricefixing.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/240937/hitachilg_data_storage... [5] http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/28/nvidia-details-settlement-for-price-fixing-fiasco/ http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/28/nvidia-details-settlement... [6] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/business/global/14compete.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/14/business/global/14compete....
- mikeash 13y ago
  I'm really just trying to imply that price fixing in the TV industry seems unlikely because TVs are unbelievably cheap compared to what I know (admittedly, little) of the cost to manufacture them. Price fixing in electronics seems entirely possible, and I don't doubt that it happens. But if it was happening in the world of TVs, surely TVs would cost more than they do now.

anon1385 13y ago

Well there was that whole thing where the biggest companies in the industry plead guilty to a massive price fixing conspiracy over many years and paid hundreds of millions of dollars in fines… http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/November/08-at-1002.html http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2008/November/08-at-1002.html