5th Cir. Affirms $439 Million Win for HP
Written June 11, 2020
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on June 5, 2020, affirmed a lower court ruling which held that Quanta Storage Inc., a Taiwanese disk drive maker, must turn over to HP Inc. all of the cash, factories and patents necessary to satisfy a $439 million antitrust judgment from 2019. Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Quanta Storage Inc., 5th. Cir., No. 19-20799.
From 2003 to 2009, Quanta took part in a conspiracy with other drive manufacturers to fix prices. HP and its subsidiaries purchased drives from Quanta and other cartel members during this period. A Houston jury awarded HP $176 million in damages, which was then tripled as allowed under US antitrust law.
On appeal, Quanta argued that the damages were incorrectly calculated at trial because jurors included purchases by HP’s foreign subsidiaries. However, HP said its economic expert excluded purchases by the foreign units, and the appeals court agreed, upholding the money judgment.