DRAM cartel 2.0? A California class-action just hit SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron. Seventeen plaintiffs—regular consumers and PC shops—claim the trio conspired to choke DDR3/DDR4 output while funneling fab capacity into HBM, keeping prices sky-high.
These firms already dominate the global DRAM pipeline. Normally, spiking prices would push at least one to flood the market and grab share. The suit says none budged, all maintaining reduced mainstream output so profits stayed plump.
Fresh competition can't materialize because building a memory fab demands staggering capital, cutting-edge facilities, and years of specialized know-how. Plaintiffs want the court to force a return to actual competition, bar future coordination, and make it rain damages for buyers who got squeezed.
Samsung and SK hynix already paid out hefty nine-figure sums over the 2005 price-fixing. A 2018 copycat suit got tossed when a judge found no smoking gun of a secret pact. Now, with AI gobbling up HBM, the tight DDR supply saga again hinges on whether the parallel output cuts were a silent conspiracy or just each company chasing the same obvious market trend.
These firms already dominate the global DRAM pipeline. Normally, spiking prices would push at least one to flood the market and grab share. The suit says none budged, all maintaining reduced mainstream output so profits stayed plump.
Fresh competition can't materialize because building a memory fab demands staggering capital, cutting-edge facilities, and years of specialized know-how. Plaintiffs want the court to force a return to actual competition, bar future coordination, and make it rain damages for buyers who got squeezed.
Samsung and SK hynix already paid out hefty nine-figure sums over the 2005 price-fixing. A 2018 copycat suit got tossed when a judge found no smoking gun of a secret pact. Now, with AI gobbling up HBM, the tight DDR supply saga again hinges on whether the parallel output cuts were a silent conspiracy or just each company chasing the same obvious market trend.
