Sharp Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. both confirmed the investigation, following a report by the Kyodo News Agency about the raids. A spokeswoman from Sharp confirmed, "It is true that the Fair Trade Commission is doing an on-the-spot inspection on our company, but we are still trying to confirm further details." Spokesmen from both companies refused further comment because of the ongoing investigation.
Representatives from Nintendo stated, "We are not aware of the reported allegations." Nintendo representatives declined to confirm whether the complaint to the Fair Trade Commission came from Nintendo or another party.
Price fixing is the term for an arrangement between competitors to offer a product or service at the same price, thus avoiding competitive pricing. Under Japanese law, a company found guilty of price fixing could be fined up to ten percent of the profits garnered from the sale of the items or services in question
It is possible Nintendo could reduce the price if they were being gouged greatly, however I doubt they were paying all THAT much for the LCDs to begin with.
Even if they are, Nintendo might just seek to pocket more of the profit.
