FAS RECOGNIZED THAT “SANGFEI CEC ELECTRONICS RUS” COORDINATED PRICES FOR PHILIPS SMARTPHONES

The Commission reached the conclusion that the importer had violated Part 5 Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”

The case against “Sangfei CEC Electronics RUS” Ltd. was opened in summer 2019. According to FAS data, the company controlled that resellers observed the recommended retail prices for Philips smartphones.

On 2 September 2019, FAS found that “Sangfei CEC Electronics RUS” Ltd. had unlawfully coordinated economic operations of resellers of Philips smartphones, which had led to fixing and maintaining prices for the following models of Philips smartphones: Philips S309, Philips S307, Philips S337, sold in retail facilities.

Head of FAS Anti-Cartel Department Andrey Tenishev emphasized: “As a result of coordinating dealers’ pricing policy prices that could be lower under fair competition are set “from above”.  Such actions are anticompetitive and illegal”.

Stats-Secretary, Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsarikovskiy commented the decision: “This is not the first FAS case against producers and official importers of devices opened for coordinating prices on their own products. FAS exposes and suppresses such anticompetitive practices on a regular basis. We will continue watching carefully these markets and pricing on devices in retail”.