According to the microblog news, according to the science and technology blog AppleInsider, Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron Technology have encountered a class action lawsuit and were accused of conspiring to limit the supply of DRAM memory chips, thus artificially keeping retail prices high.
It is reported that this class action lawsuit is for all US consumers who purchased and used DRAM chip devices from July 1, 2016 to February 1, 2018, including Mac, iPad and iPhone.
Hagens Berman, a law firm, said that despite the record demand for DRAM chips, competition between Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron Technology can cause chip prices to decline. However, in fact, from the first quarter of 2016 to the third in 2017 In the quarter, the sales of DRAM chips of the three companies more than doubled, due to the decline in the output of the three companies and conspiracy to manipulate chip prices.
'The DRAM market we have revealed is a classic antitrust and price manipulation case. In this case, several major companies have occupied a majority share of the market,' said Steve Berman, Managing Partner of Hagens Berman. Berman) stated that 'Samsung, Hynix, and Micron have not acted according to the rules. In order to obtain greater profits, they have harmed the interests of consumers and disrupted the market.'
For a long time, the DRAM industry has been dominated by the top three. South Korea's Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and the United States of America's Micron Technology have the absolute right to speak in this area, the three are relatively fixed seats. The third quarter of 2017 data show that these three companies The market share of the revenue was 45.8%, 28.7% and 21.0%, respectively, taking a total of 90% share.
Since the second quarter of last year, DRAM (mainly including PC memory, mobile memory, server memory) industry revenue has soared, and sales records are being refreshed every quarter. In 2017, DRAM chip prices rose by 47%. Sets the biggest increase in 30 years. Previously there was also news that Samsung Electronics is expanding DRAM production capacity.
It is worth mentioning that in a lawsuit filed against DRAM chip makers in 2006, Hagens Berman had helped buyers who paid high chip prices reach a $300 million settlement agreement. The prices of these chips are also made by manufacturers. Pulling up. In 2006, the U.S. Department of Justice found Samsung conspiracy to manipulate the price of DRAM chips. Samsung and SK hynix pleaded guilty and paid a total of US$731 million in criminal fines. Executives of the two companies were sentenced to 3185 days in jail.