According to reports, on May 31, the Chinese anti-monopoly agencies dispatched several working groups to conduct 'peep investigations' and on-site forensics of the offices of Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron's DRAM memory companies in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, respectively. 3. China officially launched an antitrust investigation against three companies.
According to the latest news, The person in charge of Samsung China confirmed the matter and said: 'There was a field investigation on May 31. We are currently assisting the investigation.'
The person also said: 'China's Samsung is in the middle of an inquiry.'
At the end of 2017, due to the insufficiency of memory supply and rising prices, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers reported Samsung Electronics to the National Development and Reform Commission. The National Development and Reform Commission immediately launched an investigation and interviewed Samsung Electronics China's regional market leader.
In May this year, the Chinese anti-trust agency interviewed Mei Guang and investigated whether Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron jointly used DRAM prices.
According to industry sources, For two years from now in 2016, DRAM prices have been rising, obviously not in line with market rules, and there are obvious signs of manipulation.
Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have monopolized 96% of the global DRAM market. In 2017, the revenues of the three companies in China were respectively 25.386 billion U.S. dollars, 8.89 billion U.S. dollars, 10.38 billion U.S. dollars, totaling 44.68 billion U.S. dollars, an annual increase of nearly 40%.
If there are indeed price monopolistic behaviors in the three DRAM makers, according to the "Anti-Monopoly Law" and "Anti-monopoly Regulations," the company will penalize its 2016-2017 sales, and the fine will be up to 8 billion US dollars.
