Market sharing is when competitors agree to divide or allocate customers, suppliers or geographic areas among themselves rather than making independent decisions as to where to operate, who to source from and which customers to pursue.
Market sharing includes allocating customers by geographic area, agreeing not to compete for each other’s customers (non-poaching agreements) and agreeing not to enter or expand into a competitor’s market.
Market sharing keeps prices artificially high, reduces choice on price, product/service and quality – hurting consumers and other businesses. Under the Competition Ordinance, it is a serious anti-competitive conduct.