Second i would point your attn to the fact that prices for smaller LCDs has not dropped much if at all for several years now, and that generally wide screen displays in those smaller sizes provide fewer actual pixels.

Also touch screen technology still remains very expensive, and panels that use 8 bits per color have gone up in price.

(1) markets typically evolve to solve these problems because competitors don't sit still;

(2) technological innovations route around attempts to freeze markets; and,

(3) the remedies pursued by regulators typically take years to enforce and do very little good for consumers in the long-run.

Hmmm… how does one create an effective price fixing cartel without the top dog from both market segments also being a part of it? I would also think that Panasonic, which #1 in plasmas, would be all too happy to see the LCD makers try to boost display prices so that they can undercut them and steal away flat-panel market share! And you may have heard of a couple of these other companies who weren't part of the “cartel” either: Sony, Hitachi, and Pioneer.

Really, this has got to be THE worst attempt at creating a price fixing cartel that I have ever heard of.