Epson Imaging Devices has plead guilty to price fixing LCD screens that were sold to Motorola.  As a result, the company will be paying $26 million for the conspiracy.  Epson Imaging Devices is a subsidiary of Seiko Epson.  Motorola used the LCD panels for their Razr mobile phone devices between 2005 and 2006.

During the time of the conspiracy, Epson was called Sanyo Epson Imaging Devices.  The U.S. Department of Justice accused Epson for meeting with competitors and agreeing to set the prices of LCDs that were sold to Motorola.

This past December, LG made a similar confession to the U.S. DOJ.  LG was sentenced to pay $400 million for price-fixing LCDs.  Around the same time Sharp paid $120 million for the same charge.  Sharp fixed the prices of LCDs that were sold to Apple, Motorola, and Dell.

About one month later, Chunghwa Picture Tubes plead guilty and was forced to pay $65 million.  This past May, Hitachi paid $31 million for selling fixed-price LCDs to Dell.

Seiko Epson has advanced their ink-jet technology that will give them the benefit of mass-producing OLED (organic LED) TVs within the next decade.  OLEDs are able to handle fast-moving images much better than LCDs and plasma TVs.

“In an OLED screen, a thin layer of organic material produces its own light when an electric current is applied, removing the need for an additional backlight panel. With no need for a backlight, OLED displays are smaller, lighter and consume less power,” stated Martyn Williams of IDG News Service.

Seiko Epson plans on collaborating with other companies to push further technology development of OLEDs.