US DOJ Subpoenas Hitachi, Toshiba, And Sony In Antitrust Investigation

Antitrust investigations and allegations of price fixing are nothing new from Hitachi and Toshiba. Both firms were embroiled in the LCD price fixing scandal that resulted in some Japanese executives getting prison terms and the companies received massive fines. The US DOJ has now issued new subpoenas to Hitachi, Toshiba, and Sony in a new anti-trust investigation that centers on the optical drive units of each company.The Wall Street Journal reports that the US DOJ issued the subpoenas in an investigation of alleged price fixing in the optical drive segments of each business. The companies say that their optical drive businesses in the US will cooperate fully with the inquiry. Details of the subpoenas were not revealed.

A person close to the investigation claims that the DOJ has initiated a criminal antitrust probe into the optical disk market in recent months and are investigating possible price fixing, bid-rigging, and allocation of markets. Sony has reported that the US DOJ and agencies outside of the US are investigating competition in optical disk drive markets.