Samsung, Hynix, and Micron accused of “a classic antitrust, price-fixing scheme”

Samsung, Hynix, and Micron accused of “a classic antitrust, price-fixing scheme”

Samsung, Hynix, and Micron are being accused of price-fixing in a lawsuit at present chasing class motion standing within the US. The allegations encompass the businesses colluding to actively restrict the worldwide provide of reminiscence and drive up costs and income.

Every PC wants reminiscence and each PC additionally wants the best gaming monitor. Yes, each PC.

The proposed class motion has been filed on behalf of US smartphone and PC customers who purchased {hardware} between 2016 and 2017, and means that Samsung, Hynix, and Micron have labored collectively to chop provide and subsequently pressure shoppers to pay greater and better costs for his or her reminiscence know-how. The three firms cowl 96% of the entire reminiscence market share and due to this fact their actions have an enormous affect on the worldwide provide of DRAM.

The regulation agency, Hagens Berman, has filed the swimsuit after finishing up its personal impartial investigation into suspected antitrust behaviour and so they have claimed the investigation has uncovered proof of wrongdoing. 

Memory manufacturing

“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,” says Hagens Berman’s Steve Berman. “Instead of playing by the rules, Samsung, Micron and Hynix chose to put consumers in a chokehold, wringing the market for more profit.”

Hagens Berman love a little bit of shopper litigation, and boast they’ve achieved over “$260 billion in settlements for consumers in lawsuits against food corporations, automakers, big banks and others.” They additionally say they received an analogous lawsuit in opposition to DRAM producers over a decade in the past, awarding $300 million for shoppers who bought reminiscence at inflated costs.

This case was filed on April 27, so we’ll see the way it goes from right here, and whether or not it does ever obtain class motion standing.


 
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