Hewlett-Packard Company v. Quanta Storage Inc and Quanta Storage America Inc.

On October 22, 2019, Beck Redden LLP obtained a $176 million unanimous jury verdict on behalf of our client, HP Inc. The verdict followed a week-long trial in a Houston federal court in which the jurors deliberated for less than five hours and found that defendants Quanta Storage Inc. and Quanta Storage America Inc. knowingly and intentionally violated U.S. antitrust laws. By law, the damages could be tripled by U.S. District Judge David Hittner.

HP alleged Quanta participated in a massive conspiracy to fix and maintain artificially inflated prices for optical disk drives, a key component for reading and writing data on CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs that are used in computers, video game consoles, and other devices. The scheme was allegedly carried out by rigging bids for optical disk drives in procurement events that HP conducted and also through the exchange of confidential information — including pricing, sales, production, and bidding strategies — between the conspirators in order to set agreements and coordinate prices.

HP is grateful for the jury’s efforts and consideration. The outcome demonstrates HP’s commitment to hold suppliers accountable for wrongful price-fixing.

The Beck Redden trial team consisted of Alistair B. Dawson, Alex B. Roberts, and Garrett S. Brawley. The case is Hewlett-Packard Company v. Quanta Storage Inc and Quanta Storage America Inc., case number 4:18-cv-00762, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division.