Antitrust: Samsung guilty of smartphone, tablet price coordination

MOSCOW, Apr 22 (PRIME) -- A commission of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service has found Samsung Electronics Rus Company, a local unit of South Korean giant Samsung, guilty of coordinating prices of smartphones and tablets, the watchdog said on Monday in a statement.

“Illegal coordination is widely spread on electronics retail markets, especially it frequently involves popular new technical products. In order to receive maximum advantage when selling its goods via dealers, firms impose on them prices and terms of sale, which is illegal. We’ll keep on closely watching such behavior and take antitrust measures if such signs are detected,” the watchdog’s Deputy Director Andrei Tsarikovsky said.

The company coordinated economic activities of such local firms as mobile operator and large retailer VimpelCom and electronics retailers Svyaznoy, Eldorado, Ulmart, and others.

The antitrust service opened a case against Samsung in mid-February on signs of price coordination for smartphones and tablets of the Galaxy models.

Earlier in April, the watchdog’s commission qualified Samsung’s behavior as coordination of economic activities.

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