Their products dominate our lives, while they dominate the markets for PCs, smartphones, tablets, TVs and digital cameras, but the likes of Microsoft, Samsung, Apple, LG and Toshiba have fallen foul of the law more than once, and when they did, it’s been costly.
There have been several high-profile lawsuits involving some of the world’s largest tech companies, which have been the most costly? The guys over at [tp lang=”en” only=”y”]First4Lawyers[/tp][tp not_in=”en”]First4Lawyers[/tp] have created this infographic to highlight the biggest pay-outs in such cases and why they happened in the first place.
Of the 10 cases featured, the most recent involved Samsung and Apple, who locked horns over the issue of selling their Galaxy and iPhone smartphones in the European Union. That particular case saw over $1bn paid out to Apple by the Korean firm, although that amount could be halved on appeal.
Aside from fighting each other in patent cases, some tech giants have been found guilty of misleading and overcharging consumers using numerous methods. The biggest fine ever given to a company for that reason was by the European Union to Microsoft in February 2008 for allegedly ‘anti-competitive behaviour’ totalling a whopping $1.4bn!
Some firms have been accused of fixing prices in the past, leaving consumers with being given a raw deal whenever buying a new appliance or gadget. LG, Toshiba and AU Optronics Corp know exactly how it feels to be caught doing that, but will the combined $500bn-plus fines given to the trio act as a deterrent? If nothing else, it will hit their profits!
cool inforgaphics. Thanks for sharing. I never was a fan of tech things but this one looks pretty interesting to me.
It is for exactly this reason that it is difficult to be a “fan” of these companies, even if we may in fact actually use their products. If they broke the law and it is something that hurt consumers, we should not feel bad for them being punished. Sadly, as you mentioned, that may not make much difference if they simply subtract the fines/court judgments awarded to competitors from their profits and then simply continue on with their shady activities.
great article as ever thanks for sharing this kind of information keep going
It is true, tech wars is the appropriate title for all this! Nice inforgaphics by the way!
indeed a piece of valuable information. Please post more informative content in the days ahead. thanks for sharing. I really like this. Amazing!