UK regulator has fined keyboard maker Casio for its efforts to stop retailers from cutting prices and offering discounts on its digital pianos and music keyboards to the end buyers.
Casio Electronics fluted UK competition rules by illegally pressurizing shops to sell Casio digital pianos and keyboards at high minimum prices, thereby attracting a fine of £3.7m by UK regulator Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Between 2013 and 2018, Casio company used software to monitor online prices to check which retailers were offering more discounts; Casio also encouraged retailers to inform on others who were providing huge discounts against Casio’s wishes.
As a result several retailers did not pass on more discounts to consumers for fear of being caught and losing Casio dealership.
Casio keyboards start from sub-£40 beginners keyboards to digital grand pianos costing thousands of pounds, admitted to breaking the law and offered to settle.
“A digital piano or keyboard can be a significant purchase, and customers should be able to shop around for a good price. Casio’s illegal action — telling retailers not to offer their musical instruments at discounted prices — made it harder for customers to shop around for a better price and meant they risked paying over the odds. The CMA’s decision reflects a trend of increased enforcement against brand owners trying to control market pricing of their products, notably in online sales,” said CMA’s senior director for antitrust enforcement.
Casio generates about £10m in revenue from the sale of its digital pianos and keyboards (UK’s musical instrument market is estimated to be worth £440m a year).
European regulators have been clamping down on bad pricing practices between wholesalers and retailers; the European Commission issued fines for online re-price fixing against four electronics companies last year — Philips, Pioneer, Asus and Denon.
Source: gov.uk
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