Philips Says: Will Appeal EU's 300 Million Euros Ticket

Beijing time on December 6 news, according to the Wall Street Journal reported that Philips said on Wednesday that the company will appeal to the European Commission's huge ticket. After investigation, the European Commission held that Philips and other companies violated the anti-monopoly law and fined the Dutch company with a fine of 300 million euros.

The European Union imposed a record 1.47 billion euros (1.92 billion U.S. dollars) in fines on companies such as Philips, LG Electronics, and Samsung SDI. Philips said that it had received a 313 million euros fine from the European Commission. After an investigation, the commission concluded that Philips formed a cartel alliance in the cathode ray tube (CRT) industry to manipulate prices and violated competition regulations. In addition, the EU also asked Philips and LG Electronics to share the joint venture company LG.Philips Displays (LPD) fine of 392 million euros.

Philips said that in 2001 the company had transferred its CRT business to LPD, a joint venture company, and no longer involved in CRT business. LPD is an independent company and its accounts are not counted in the Philips account. LPD went bankrupt in 2006, and the European Commissioner's investigation of the CRT business had previously been disclosed in Philips' annual report.

“We believe that penalties involving businesses that had ceased in 2001 are unfair and disproportionate,” said Philips CEO Frans van Houten. “At the same time, I would like to be assured to shareholders that the fine will not affect our focus on Let Philips become a leading technology company in the health field. We will continue to accelerate our roadmap for improving our performance and reaffirm our 2013 financial goals."