South Korea's antitrust regulator has issued fines on Thursday, penalizing eight local distributors of SolidWorks software a combined 2.3 billion won (approximately $1.52 million) for colluding to fix prices.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) stated that these eight companies act as agents selling the industrial software SolidWorks, developed by Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. This software is widely used across various sectors including machinery and medical devices. The eight distributors engaged in price-fixing activities, thereby increasing procurement costs for buyers.

The FTC explained, "Multiple SolidWorks distributors colluded by meeting in person and communicating via mobile phones to set minimum sales prices, aiming to avoid competition among themselves and maximize their own profits." The commission added that this collusion lasted from 2021 to 2024.

The Korean Fair Trade Commission indicated that these eight distributors account for the entire relevant market share domestically. They also agreed not to poach customers already secured by other distributors and, if receiving inquiries from such customers, to uniformly quote prices higher than a specified standard.

The regulator pointed out that these monopolistic pricing practices have raised software procurement costs for local companies, weakening the industrial competitiveness of South Korean enterprises.

For instance, in the third quarter of 2023, compared to the second quarter of 2021, the average price of SolidWorks CAD products increased by 53.8% before any pricing adjustments were made.

According to data from the Korean Fair Trade Commission, the size of the relevant market in South Korea was estimated at 54.7 billion won as of 2023.