A new class action lawsuit filed in California's Northern District federal court accuses Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology of deliberately restricting DRAM production to create an artificial shortage and drive up prices.
The three companies control nearly 95% of the global DRAM market.
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Plaintiffs, including individuals and small businesses, claim the alleged collusion has led to dramatic price increases, sometimes by hundreds of percent, far beyond normal market forces.
The lawsuit, filed around June 25, 2026, alleges violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.
It claims the companies shifted production capacity toward high-margin, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI servers while holding back on standard DRAM.
Consumers are already feeling the impact.
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Apple recently raised prices on Macs, iPads, and other products, citing surging memory and storage costs tied to the AI boom.
Other PC and smartphone makers have also adjusted pricing or delayed launches.
This is not the first time these companies have faced such allegations. They paid billions in fines in the 2000s after similar collusion investigations.
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Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have not given detailed public responses to the new suit.
In the past, they have denied any wrongdoing, stating their decisions on production and pricing are reactions to market conditions and the surge in AI demand.
The memory market remains under heavy pressure.
Lenovo expects supply to stay tight well into 2027–2028 as data centers continue consuming chips, with new factories taking time to come online.
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The outcome of this case could have a significant impact on pricing, competition, and innovation across the tech industry.
