Philips, Samsung and Infineon have been fined 138m euros (£110m; $182m) by the European Commission (EC) for fixing prices of chips in used in smartphones.
The electronics giants "colluded" on pricing, contracts and capacity between 2003 and 2005, the EC said.
Infineon was fined 82.8m euros, Samsung 35.1m euros, and Philips 20.2m euros.
Germany's Infineon and Dutch firm Philips rejected the charge and said they would appeal. South Korea's Samsung had yet to comment.
Renesas, a joint venture between Hitachi and Mitsubishi, avoided a fine for revealing the existence of the cartel, the EC said.
The three fined companies "discussed and exchanged sensitive commercial information on pricing, customers, contract negotiations, production capacity and their future market conduct," said Joaquin Almunia, the EC's vice president in charge of competition pricing.
Companies that "choose to collude, at the expense of both customers and end consumers, should expect sanctions", he added.
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