Philips Fined by Korea Fair Trade Commission for Price Fixing

The Fair Trade Commission of Korea has fined Philips, a Dutch company, for price fixing.  The Fair Trade Commission fined Philips KRW 1.5billion (USD 1.3 million) for, inter alia, prohibiting online retailers from offering discounts and certain products to potential buyers.

Philips, according to the Korea’s Fair Trade Commission is the top small appliance company in Korea with a 57% share of the electric toothbrush market, 61% share of the electric shaver market; 45% share of the iron market; and a 31% share of the coffee-maker market.

The Fair Trade Commission has contented that prices have not decreased after the implementation of the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement, because of price fixing by manufacturers. 

Philips is the first EU company to be fined by the Fair Trade Commission.

Other articles on this issue and the Korea Fair Trade Commission:

Also, search via the labels to the right (Korean Antitrust Law).
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Sean Hayes, IPG’s Co-Chair of the Korea Practice Team, may be contacted at: SeanHayes@ipglegal.com

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About Sean Hayes

Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean employed as a foreign attorney by the Korean Court System (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a full-time regular member of a Korean law faculty. He is rated a Top Attorney by numerous legal rating agencies and is known for his street-smart advice, candor and aggressive & non-conflicted advocacy. Sean has been quoted by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNN, Money Today, US Today, The Korea Times, The Korea Herald, France 24, Asia Legal Business and other leading news sources. IPG was, recently, rated a top Dispute Resolution Law Firm and Sean a Top 100 Lawyer for International Law.