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Sharp to pay near $200M to Dell, others to settle TFT case

Sharp reaches out-of-court settlement with Dell and two other companies, ending ongoing case over its thin-film-transistor business in North America and Europe.

Zack Whittaker Writer-editor
Zack Whittaker is a former security editor for CNET's sister site ZDNet.
Zack Whittaker

Sharp will pay a total of $198.5 million to Dell and two other companies a part of an out-of-court settlement reached over the Japanese tech company's thin-film-transistor, or TFT business.

It's not clear from initial reports which companies are invovled or even what the suit pertained to. AT&T and Nokia both sued Toshiba a few years back and are likely the two unnamed companies paid in the settlement.

However, the news likely relates to last week's news that Toshiba, Samsung, LG, and Sharp colluded to fix prices of LCD panels.

Sharp said after "comprehensively considering the American civil justice system," it had settled as "the best possible course of action," according to The Verge.

Last week, Toshiba was ordered to pay $87 million in damages for allegedly fixing the prices of LCD panels. U.S. officials claimed the conspiring parties met in secret in karaoke bars, hotel conference rooms, and even tea rooms in Taiwan. 

"Toshiba has consistently maintained that there was no illegal activity on its part in the LCD business in the United States, and Toshiba continues to hold that view," a statement from Toshiba said.

Both Sharp and Dell were unavailable for comment. Questions have been e-mailed to both companies, and if we hear back then updates will be added here.

This story was originally posted as "Sharp to pay Dell, others $198.5m in TFT settlement case" on ZDNet's Between the Lines.