Samsung was fined 40 million Euros in the Netherlands by the intervention of the ACM, for price manipulation.
It was a thorn in the side of the ACM: Samsung kept forcing higher prices on sellers. By this we mean that the tech giant kept a close eye on the prices charged by sellers. If the price was too low for Samsung’s liking, the store in question was sent a ‘reminder’ regarding the ‘too low’ sales price.
Many dealers complied with this reminder – which in practice, according to ACM, can simply be regarded as a means of coercion. If only because they scored some extra profit themselves.
But only briefly the main price
The problem with new televisions is that, as a manufacturer, you can only ask high prices for a very short time. After that the price drops very quickly. The big profits are therefore made in the beginning, immediately after the release of a device. By stretching this peak for as long as possible – and in Samsung’s case artificially – it is possible to count on wider margins. Nice for the manufacturer, nice for the seller but a lot less nice for buyers who are simply cheated.
The case that has now been won by ACM concerns the period 2013-2018. Incidentally, you can wonder which other manufacturers make use of artificial price pushing, whether or not provided with a strong dose of coercion. Anyway, as to be expected, Samsung will appeal against the ruling concerning their alleged activities: according to them, no pressure was ever exerted.