The consumer electronics companies Asus, Denon & Marantz, Philips and Pioneer have been fined a total of EUR 111 million by the European Commission for imposing fixed or minimum resale prices on their online retailers in breach of EU competition rules.
The companies restricted the ability of online retailers to set their own retail prices for widely used consumer electronics products such as kitchen appliances, notebooks and hi-fi products. The four manufacturers intervened particularly with online retailers who offered their products at low prices. If those retailers did not follow the prices requested by manufacturers, they faced threats or sanctions such as blocking of supplies. Due to bigger retailers tracking the small competitors and adjusting prices automatically, this had an even bigger impact on the market, leading to higher prices for consumers, the Commission found.
Asus was fined the most, at EUR 63.5 million, after taking a particularly active approach to monitoring retailers in Germany and France over the period 2011-2014. Asus intervened with retailers selling computers and displays below the resale prices recommended by Asus and requested price increases.
Pioneer, fined EUR 10.2 million, also limited the ability of its retailers to sell cross-border to consumers in other EU states, in order to sustain different prices in the countries. For example, it blocked orders of retailers who sold cross-border.
All four companies cooperated with the Commission's investigation, which was started in early 2017. As a result they received reductions in the fines of 40-50 percent.
