THE European Union's competition watchdog yesterday fined five Taiwan and South Korean electronics companies 649 million euros (US$860) for fixing prices on LCD panels between 2001 and 2006.

A sixth company, Samsung Electronics, also participated in the price fixing, but escaped a fine because it blew the whistle on the cartel, the European Commission said.

Chimei InnoLux Corp received the biggest fine, 300 million euros, LG Display has to pay 215 million euros, and AU Optronics was fined 116.8 million euros. Two smaller companies, Chunghwa Picture Tubes and HannStar Display Corp, received fines of 9 million euros and 8.1 million euros respectively.

Between October 2001 and February 2006, the companies met about 60 times, mostly in Taiwan hotels, the commission said. In addition to fixing prices, they also exchanged information on future production plans and other business plans.