After deliberations for nearly two days, a 10-member San Francisco jury said in its Tuesday verdict that it had found Japanese electronics maker Toshiba guilty of LCD price-fixing.

The jury determined that Toshiba had connived with vendors to ensure that the cost of LCD - liquid crystal display - panels artificially high in the US; and was thus liable for a fine of $87 million (£55 million) --- $17 million to device-manufacturers who used LCD panels; and $70 million to consumers who purchased the finished products, including flat screen TVs, personal computers and laptops.

According to a Reuters report, the jury's verdict comes in a case which stemmed from a class action lawsuit that was filed in 2007 by the buyers of LCD panels and other similar products in the US.

The lawsuit accused some of the world's bigwig LCD-panel manufactures - which, other than Toshiba, included Samsung and LG Electronics, - of colluding to keep the LCD prices high in the US, in order to boost their profits.

Noting that the price-fixing claims were settled by seven LCD makers last year, in a $553 million settlement, Toshiba - commenting on the jury's verdict - said that it did not anticipate the financial penalty because other defendants in the class-action lawsuit had already paid settlements which surpassed the fine against it.

Toshiba said that it believes that "the jury's verdict is in error as to the finding of wrongdoing on Toshiba's part," and added that it intends pursuing "all available legal avenues to correct that finding."