Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology are being investigated for price fixing in China and will face fines of up to $8 billion if found guilty due to the country’s antitrust law. The rising cost of DRAM since 2017 had drew the attention and intervention of China’s Anti-Monopoly Bureau of Ministry of Commerce, but prices kept going up regardless.



China has become the largest consumer of DRAM memory. The country imported US$88.92 billion worth of memory chips in 2017, up nearly 40%. As a result, China’s antitrust authority is being encouraged to launch a price-fixing probe like the one that took place in the US in 2002, after receiving a complaint submitted jointly by China’s local smartphone and other consumer technology product vendors, the sources said.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – DRAM Vendors Reportedly Facing Hefty Antitrust Fines in China