Samsung Denies Allegations of Setting Memory Chip Prices in the US

JAKARTA - Samsung Electronics has denied allegations of pricing in a class action lawsuit in the United States. This case dragged three major players in the world of memory chips, Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron, when the price of old DRAM was said to have jumped sharply.

Citing a report by Korea JoongAng Daily, Tuesday, June 30, a group of consumers and businesses in the US sued the three companies in a California federal court on Thursday. They accused there was collusion and price-fixing.

Samsung immediately denied it. "The allegations made in the lawsuit are unfounded. We conduct business with strict adherence to the principles of fair competition as well as applicable laws and regulations," a Samsung Electronics spokesperson told Korea JoongAng Daily.

Samsung said it would handle the matter through the appropriate legal process.

SK hynix is taking a more cautious stance. The company said it was aware of the lawsuit and was thoroughly reviewing it before responding.

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The point is, the plaintiffs highlight the price increase of old DRAM products, especially DDR3 and DDR4.

DRAM is a type of memory used to temporarily store data in electronic devices. DDR3 and DDR4 are old generations of memory chips that are still used in many devices.

The plaintiffs claim that the price of the product has jumped 700 percent in the past four years. They accused the memory company of jointly cutting production and shifting focus to high bandwidth memory or HBM, a type of high-speed memory that is widely used for AI computing.

The charge refers to an alleged violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, the US antitrust law that prohibits collusion to restrict competition.

However, industry circles and legal experts assess that this matter is not easy to prove. The plaintiff must show strong evidence that these companies have indeed agreed to set prices first.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, a similar case occurred in 2002. At that time, Samsung, SK hynix, Micron, and Infineon from Germany faced a price-fixing investigation by US antitrust authorities.

All companies pleaded guilty in 2004 to 2005. Samsung paid a fine of 300 million US dollars, SK hynix 185 million US dollars, and Infineon 160 million US dollars. Micron was not fined because it cooperated with investigators first.

However, the old case is different. At that time, the case was brought by the US Department of Justice after investigators collected evidence. This latest lawsuit was filed by a private party and is still based on allegations.

A closer case occurred in 2018. Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron were then accused of colluding to limit DRAM supplies and raise prices from 2016 to 2018.

However, the lawsuit was dismissed by a federal district court in 2022. The court ruled that the plaintiff failed to show sufficient evidence of an agreement between the companies.

If this latest lawsuit is allowed to continue, the case will enter the discovery phase. At this stage, the plaintiff can request internal documents, emails, and other evidence to support the allegation of pricing.