Chinese officials claim they've discovered 'massive evidence' of DRAM price-fixing

[Polycount]

In context: It's no secret that the cost of PC memory has skyrocketed this year. While prices have seemingly stabilized now (perhaps due to the holiday season), websites like Amazon still list the base price of a 16GB kit of Corsair's Vengeance LPX DDR4 RAM at around $190.

Speculation regarding why the prices are so high has been rampant throughout the internet. Some insist the costs are due to material shortages, while others claim that the three leading memory makers -- Samsung, Micron, and Hynix -- have been participating in price fixing.

It seems China's government concurs with the latter theory. According to a report from the Financial Times, country officials have been investigating the three companies for suspected anti-competitive behavior for some time now.

These investigations have born fruit if said officials are to be believed. Specifically, Chinese inspectors have reportedly found "massive evidence" that Samsung, Hynix, and Micron are indeed fixing DRAM prices.

Chinese inspectors have reportedly found "massive evidence" that Samsung, Hynix, and Micron are indeed fixing DRAM prices.

China hasn't elaborated on either of these claims just yet, and none of the alleged evidence has made its way to the public sphere. However, if the investigations are as far along as China seems to imply they are, we might learn more in the coming months.

Samsung, Micron, and Hynix, for their part, do not appear to be impeding the proceedings. The Financial Times says all three companies are cooperating fully with investigators, but it remains to be seen whether or not that agreeableness will last if more information comes to light.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/77521-chinese-officials-claim-theyve-discovered-massive-evidence-dram.html

 

[Uncle Al]

What? What? Price fixing among these makers???? That simply can't happen in America .... more than two or three times a week ...... eh?

 

[psycros]

Samsung isn't

What? What? Price fixing among these makers???? That simply can't happen in America .... more than two or three times a week ...... eh?

Only Micron is US-based. This is global price-fixing, which we've seen over and over in the semiconductor industry. The biggest cartels in America are pharmaceuticals, oil and wireless.

 

[Danny101]

As opposed to Chinese life fixing? Who dares to be more controlling than China?

 

[Eldritch]

Samsung isn't

What? What? Price fixing among these makers???? That simply can't happen in America .... more than two or three times a week ...... eh?

Only Micron is US-based. This is global price-fixing, which we've seen over and over in the semiconductor industry. The biggest cartels in America are pharmaceuticals, oil and wireless.

Sorry in advance for off ropic rant but I have to say this.

Biggest cartel is ofcourse Pharma and healthcare. A simple injury can lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars of bills and the people who say 'Get an insurance then' are out of touch with reality. Insurance price is also based on coverage cost and risk so increase in base cost leads to higher premiums. The medicines are exorbitantly priced, doctors are charging an arm and leg for simplest of procedures, bills are full of pointless tests aimed solely to further line the hospitals pockets and insurance are structured to screw over people and their claims. How the people have not revolted against this attack on their right to live is beyond my comprehension.

 

[captaincranky]

...[ ]....The medicines are exorbitantly priced, doctors are charging an arm and leg for simplest of procedures, bills are full of pointless tests aimed solely to further line the hospitals pockets and insurance are structured to screw over people and their claims. How the people have not revolted against this attack on their right to live is beyond my comprehension.

The short answer is that they're too busy d!cking around with their iPhones, (and you too Android lovers), to either notice or pause long enough to form a lobby, coalition, or activist group to do something about it.

In fact they damned near reelected the clown who was responsible for penning the "repeal and replace Obama care legislation", Tom MacArthur. Not that that bill had anything much going toward price reduction anyway.

People mindlessly soak up drug company ads/propaganda, then break ballz on their doctors to prescribe the side effect riddled, already available in generic equivalent, poisons. Doctors readily relent, since I honestly do believe they get kickbacks from drug companies for peddling their product.

And as I have over the past 11 years here at Techspot become acutely aware, complaining about social injustice in this forum does nothing to further a cause. (But then it really isn't supposed to do anything much past get it out of our systems, so, no harm, no foul).

 

[urbanman2004]

Chinese gov't officials, you don't say?! Lmao! For all we know those same Chinese gov't officials were probably in cahoots and in on it too.

 

[koblongata]

Give them huge fines, give us cheap RAM prices. (it's hugely overpriced for some years already..)

 

[Danny101]

Sorry in advance for off ropic rant but I have to say this.

Biggest cartel is ofcourse Pharma and healthcare. A simple injury can lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars of bills and the people who say 'Get an insurance then' are out of touch with reality. Insurance price is also based on coverage cost and risk so increase in base cost leads to higher premiums. The medicines are exorbitantly priced, doctors are charging an arm and leg for simplest of procedures, bills are full of pointless tests aimed solely to further line the hospitals pockets and insurance are structured to screw over people and their claims. How the people have not revolted against this attack on their right to live is beyond my comprehension.

I've been saying this for years. Better insurance is beside the point. The cost healthcare is the real problem. They don't treat to heal, but to steal. Doctors are progressively getting less effective with their so called practices and diagnosis.

 

[mbrowne5061]

My bet is that prices initially skyrockets because of a supply chain issue, then were kept artificially high through price fixing.

The fact that the investigation seems to have born fruit right around the same time that prices have started following seems to suggest that there was some kind of artificial manipulation of prices going on. Like slowing down when you see a cop on the side of the way looking for speeders, he pegged your speed already a mile back, and you aren't fooling anyone.

 

[flyboydale54]

And the price fixing is probably coming straight out of China where everything is made that is junk quality. Are the China price inspectors telling you that?