Friday, July 14, 2006

Micron, DRAM Manufacturers Accused Of Price Fixing

Boise, Idaho-based Micron has been accused of price fixing, as thirty four states have filed suit against Micron Technology, Samsung, Hynix, Infineon, and other DRAM manufacturers. The lawsuits, filed in the U.S. federal court in San Francisco, charges that DRAM manufacturers maintained secret agreements to fix prices from 1998 to sometime in 2002. The suits maintain that the manufacturers fixed DRAM chip prices, artificially restrained supply, allocated among themselves the production of DRAM chips and markets for the chips, and rigged bids for DRAM chip contracts. The lawsuits are the result of an investigation launched in June of 2002. Micron has agreed to cooporate with investigators for amnesty from federal criminal charges.