Samsung and Rivals Sued Over Alleged DRAM Price Conspiracy

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Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have landed in legal trouble in the US after being accused of working together to keep DRAM prices high. A new class action lawsuit claims the three memory giants deliberately limited the supply of conventional DRAM, making memory chips more expensive for both consumers and businesses.

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron accused of keeping DRAM prices high

The lawsuit was filed on June 25 in a federal court in California by 17 plaintiffs, including individuals and small PC businesses. They claim the three companies, which control most of the global DRAM market, coordinated production cuts instead of competing with one another, even as memory prices continued to climb over the past few years.

According to the complaint, the companies shifted more of their focus to high-bandwidth memory (HBM). These are used in AI servers and is in high demand. The plaintiffs argue that this came at the expense of older DDR3 and DDR4 memory, reducing supply for smartphones, laptops, desktops, and other everyday devices.

The lawsuit also says it’s nearly impossible for new companies to enter the DRAM business. Building a memory fabrication plant costs billions of dollars and takes years, making it difficult for new competitors to emerge. The plaintiffs argue that this allowed the three companies to tighten supply without risking significant market share.

The group is asking the court to stop the alleged anti-competitive practices and award treble damages under US antitrust law. They also point to Apple’s recent price hikes for some iPads and Macs as an example of how rising memory costs may already be affecting consumers.

This isn’t the first time these companies have faced similar allegations. Samsung and SK Hynix previously pleaded guilty in an earlier US DRAM price-fixing case. On the other hand, Micron avoided penalties by cooperating with investigators. For now, though, these are only allegations, and none of the three companies has publicly responded to the new lawsuit.

Written by

Abhinav Anand

Abhinav Anand is the News Editor at SammyGuru and a technology journalist based in New Delhi. Before joining SammyGuru, he contributed to numerous outlets, including Android Headlines, ExtremeTech, The Mac Observer, Financial Express, Economic Times, iGeeksBlog, KnowTechie, PhonesWiki, SlashGear, and more. You can reach him at [email protected].

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