UK fines piano firm for price fixing
mainFrom HMG:
The Competition and Markets Authority has fined Casio £3.7 million for breaking competition law by preventing online discounting for its digital pianos and keyboards.
The move comes after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) issued a Statement of Objections against Casio Electronics Co. Ltd (Casio) in April 2019. Casio has now admitted that, between 2013 and 2018, it broke competition law by implementing a policy designed to restrict retailer freedom to set prices online, requiring digital pianos and keyboards to be sold at or above a minimum price.
Casio’s actions had included telling retailers to sell digital pianos and keyboards online at or above a certain price. It then monitored their prices and pressured retailers to modify or raise their prices online when they fell below the specified minimum price. This kind of illegal practice, known as resale price maintenance (RPM), often means that customers miss out on the best possible prices because, even when they shop around, they find all retailers tend to be selling at around the same price.
More here.
The irony of all this is that I cannot remember the last time I saw a Casio keyboard . Roland, Technics, Yamaha are everywhere, but Casio ?
Look harder. Casio owns a sizable share of the entry-level, sub-$1,000 digital piano market.
You may be talking about the US market . Here , we do not price things in dollars !
Many pianists love the Casio Priviaa.