The largest RAM and storage component manufacturers are being sued for alleged price fixing and stoking “supracompetitive prices”

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—the three largest manufacturers of RAM and storage components globally—face a class action lawsuit filed June 25 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. The suit, brought by 14 individuals and three businesses, alleges that the companies engaged in coordinated price-fixing and intentionally limited supply to maintain artificially high prices.

According to the lawsuit, the three manufacturers conspired to dramatically reduce production of DDR3 and DDR4 RAM—conventional memory types commonly used in consumer electronics like PCs and gaming consoles. Simultaneously, they coordinated a pivot toward producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which is primarily designed for AI data center applications. By squeezing consumer-grade DRAM supply while competitors lack sufficient capital to fill the void, the suit argues that Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron created an “oligopoly” capable of maintaining “supracompetitive prices” with no meaningful competition.

This lawsuit arrives amid an ongoing memory crisis that has persisted since at least 2025, colloquially termed “RAMageddon” or the “RAMpocalypse.” The shortage has triggered substantial increases in PC and consumer hardware costs. While industry observers have primarily attributed the crisis to unprecedented demand from AI data center construction, this lawsuit suggests the three manufacturers deliberately exploited and worsened market conditions for profit.

The case, formally titled Garciaguirre et al. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., et al., seeks to recover damages for consumers and halt the alleged anticompetitive behavior. Some analysts predict RAM prices could rise another 50% in Q3 2026, with the shortage potentially extending into 2028 or beyond—a timeline the plaintiffs’ lawyers suggest may reflect artificial market manipulation rather than genuine supply constraints.

Sources

• The largest RAM and storage component manufacturers are being sued for alleged price fixing and stoking “supracompetitive prices”
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