In the US, Chinese TV maker, Haier, has filed an anti-trust lawsuit claiming that the MPEG LA (and LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips and the Columbia University Trust Committee) are monopolizing the ATSC patents and forcing the firm to pay an unreasonably high fee for a licence. Haire was paying, apparently $5 per set, although the fee has recently been reduced and Haier said that its is “150%-200% higher than comparable technology licenses in Europe.”
According to Multichannel News Haier alleges that the “unreasonable pricing” does not reflect the falling price of ATSC tuners. It also charges that MPEG LA has “attempted to maintain its excessive royalty rate by adding ‘broadcasting’ patents, which it characterizes as “improper royalty stacking.”
The legal case is about the earlier version of ATSC, rather than the latest ATSC 3.0 version,
Analyst Comment
Haier had around a 3.4% share of the global TV market last year according to Statista. (BR)
