Memory giants Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron hit with US DRAM price-fixing suit

A group of 14 consumers and three small businesses, including PC retailers, filed an antitrust lawsuit in California federal court on June 25 accusing Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron of colluding to inflate DRAM prices. The three firms control most of the world’s DRAM output, and the plaintiffs allege they coordinated supply cuts and pricing starting in 2022, driving prices up roughly 700% over four years. Central to the claim is the argument that the companies deliberately starved the DDR3/DDR4 market by steering capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI workloads, then discontinuing older lines.

The case is small for now but is being pursued as a class action covering all consumers and businesses that bought DRAM-containing products. Plaintiffs’ firm Bathaee Dunne — which previously won a collusion case against Google’s ad business — is seeking certification, and a successful class action would expose the chipmakers to treble damages. The companies’ history works against them: Samsung and SK Hynix were both found guilty of DRAM price fixing in the US in the early 2000s, drawing heavy fines and prison terms for executives.

The suit was reportedly triggered by Apple’s recent across-the-board price hikes, part of a broader “chipflation” squeeze. Even so, analysts including Jefferies expect little near-term impact, forecasting that memory prices will hold through at least the end of the year regardless of the litigation.