ATI and NVIDIA Accused of Collusion
A class suit was filed against NVIDIA and ATI (now AMD). According to it, about 5 years ago the aforementioned companies colluded to fix prices. In particular, there's an email in case records proving that such cartel deals were a usual thing in the graphics card market.
In other words, NVIDIA and ATI, perhaps, coordinated their actions to make a semblance of competition — at secret meetings representatives of both companies negotiated price levels, release dates and other actions. Such pseudo competition allowed them to increase sales and revenues, acting as a single monopolist.
Images show clearly how behavior of NVIDIA and ATI changed with time. The upper chart shows price difference between comparable cards. The lower chart shows the difference in release dates. The first area on both charts is Pre-conspiracy, the second is Conspiracy, the third (a very brief period) is Post-DOJ Subpoena.
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.
In sum, suits (that were merged into one) were filed by 51 parties. Moreover, it was discovered that collusion also took place in DRAM, flat panel and CRT markets as well.
Sources: techPowerUp!, ALM Properties, ITExaminer.com
Write a comment below. No registration needed!
