EU Cathode Ray Tube Cartel

Cathode ray tubes powered televisions and desktop monitors for generations. A small group of Asian and European manufacturers supplied tubes to brands like Sony and Dell, giving them leverage over entire product lines.

Investigators said executives held recurring meetings labeled 'green' when sensitive pricing topics were on the agenda. Participants allegedly exchanged target prices, allocated customers, and monitored compliance with cartel quotas.

The cartel persisted even as LCD technology threatened CRT's future—incumbents squeezed last profits from a dying market rather than compete aggressively.

Raids in 2007 followed leniency applications. Email traffic and meeting minutes reconstructed a conspiracy spanning continents.

The 2012 fines totaled €1.47 billion—then a record for a single cartel case—reflecting duration, geographic scope, and the size of affected electronics markets.

TV and PC buyers indirectly paid through higher component costs passed into retail prices.

The CRT cartel remains a cautionary tale about sunset industries colluding while technology shifts beneath them.

Component cartels tax every device downstream.

Codenames and golf outings do not hide conduct from modern investigators.

Even declining markets attract collusion to extract final rents.

Price fixing on color display tubes.

Customer allocation among major CRT suppliers.

Regular covert meetings over a decade.

Companies appealed fine calculations and parental liability theories.

Some argued market decline independently raised prices.

Electronics procurement teams should watch oligopoly pricing patterns.

Legacy product lines still face cartel risk—complacency is dangerous.