Complaint in California says limits on legacy DRAM output drove roughly 700% price increases over four years, while the companies point to AI-led demand and major chip investment plans.
Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology are facing a class action in California federal court that accuses them of coordinating limits on legacy DRAM supply, creating shortages and driving prices up about 700% over the past four years. The plaintiffs include 14 buyers and three small computer shops, and one of their law firms, Hagens Berman, previously secured payouts in an earlier U.S. memory price-fixing case. The lawsuit argues the three companies, which it says control about 90% of global DRAM production, shifted factory capacity toward higher-margin memory used in AI systems while allowing everyday DRAM supplies to tighten. The complaint says that strategy inflated prices for ordinary memory and left buyers with few alternatives because new chip plants cost more than $15 billion and take years to build. The filing also points to a prior U.S. antitrust case. In 2005, Samsung admitted fixing memory prices and paid a $300 million fine, then one of the largest U.S. antitrust penalties of its kind, while some executives went to prison. The new suit says some of those individuals were later reinstated. The companies deny wrongdoing and say heavy planned spending underscores that demand is genuine rather than coordinated manipulation. Samsung Group announced about $650 billion of spending over 10 years on June 29, while SK Group outlined a similar chip plan. Samsung and SK Hynix each plan to build two new factories and together account for about 80% of the specialized memory used for AI. Micron has also defended its strategic shift after closing its Crucial consumer business in December, saying it was reallocating supply toward larger customers in faster-growing markets. Shares of Samsung fell 5.3% and SK Hynix dropped 3.4%, while Jefferies expects memory prices to rise about 50% this quarter and 40% the next, with no meaningful relief before 2028. The legal challenge remains difficult: two earlier versions of the lawsuit were dismissed after courts said rising prices alone did not prove coordination.