The world’s two-largest memory makers based in South Korea, Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, are facing a legal battle against US consumers who claim that they conspired to set high prices for widely used memory chips, according to the industry on Monday.
US class-action law firm Hagens Berman said in a press release Friday that it had filed a lawsuit against the three-largest electronics chipmakers, Samsung Electronics, Micron and SK hynix, claiming that the companies illegally agreed to raise prices of dynamic random access memory chips, therefore passing on price increases to consumer electronics purchased between Jan. 1 2016 and Feb. 1 this year.
 |
| (Yonhap) |
The law firm is still attracting more consumers to sign up for the case on its homepage.
According to the claim, Samsung, Micron and SK hynix agreed to limit the supply of DRAM, driving up prices for the widely used memory chips for smartphones, laptops, desktops, tablets and other devices.
The price of 4 GB DRAM saw a 130 percent jump during the period specified in the lawsuit, and as prices soared, so did defendants’ profits, the law firm said.
Between the first quarter of 2016 and the third quarter of 2017, Samsung, Micron and SK hynix’s revenues from global DRAM sales more than doubled, it said.
“What we’ve uncovered in the DRAM market is a classic antitrust, price-fixing scheme in which a small number of kingpin corporations hold the lion’s share of the market,” said Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman. “Instead of playing by the rules, Samsung, Micron and Hynix chose to put consumers in a chokehold, wringing the market for more profit.”
The US law firm won a settlement in 2006 for a similar case following a suit by the Department of Justice that accused Samsung and SK hynix of fixing the prices of DRAM.
The Korean chipmakers pleaded guilty at the time to the Department of Justice’s charges. Samsung paid a $300 million criminal fine, while SK hynix paid $180 million.
Both Samsung and SK hynix do not have an official comment yet, saying it will take time to review the case that was filed last week.
Some in the industry cast doubt on the intention of the US law firm.
“It’s hard to say the companies are limiting the supply of DRAM during this unprecedented boom for the products,” an industry official said. “Supply has been really tight due to rapidly rising demand, while pushing up the prices by market rules.”
By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)
