A class action lawsuit has been filed in the Northern District of California against the three largest manufacturers of RAM and chips: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. The suit, brought by seventeen individual plaintiffs including three small businesses, alleges that these companies are colluding to drive up prices by artificially limiting supply. The plaintiffs contend that the companies are exploiting the demand for AI data centers as a justification for their pricing strategies, rather than acknowledging corporate policy as the cause.
The case, Garciaguirre et al v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al, was filed on June 25. Among the plaintiffs are computer retailers Troy’s Computers LLC, JB Tech Solutions LLC, and WNTD Fab LLC. The core accusation is that Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology operate as a cartel, controlling approximately 90 percent of the DRAM market and collaborating to inflate prices. This is not the first time these companies have faced such accusations. In 2005, Samsung and Hynix America executives were indicted by a San Francisco jury for DRAM price-fixing and bid-rigging, which involved agreeing on prices and quotation levels with original equipment manufacturers in the United States. A former Valve employee also recounted a similar experience, stating that RAM manufacturers would dictate prices and supply, ceasing communication if their terms were not met during the Steam Machine's manufacturing process.
The current lawsuit posits that the ongoing demand from AI data centers is being used as a cover for these alleged monopolistic practices. Evidence cited by the plaintiffs includes significant stock price increases for SK Hynix, which rose by 2,045 percent over the past five years, and Micron Technology, which saw a 1,309 percent increase in the same period.