Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology face a federal class action lawsuit alleging the three memory chipmakers conspired to restrict DRAM supply and inflate prices, with 17 plaintiffs seeking damages on behalf of consumers and businesses harmed by the alleged collusion.
The complaint was filed June 25 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to Quartz. The 17 named plaintiffs—including individuals and small businesses such as Troy’s Computers LLC and JB Tech Solutions LLC—claim the companies worked together to keep commodity DRAM artificially scarce to drive prices higher.
At the core of the lawsuit is an accusation that all three companies exploited the industry’s transition to High-Bandwidth Memory, a chip architecture central to AI workloads, as a pretext for winding down output of legacy DRAM formats including DDR3 and DDR4. Prices for commodity DRAM have climbed approximately 700% over a four-year span, according to Quartz, a rise the plaintiffs attribute directly to the alleged supply manipulation.
The complaint cites Apple’s recent price increases on iPads and Macs as evidence of the downstream impact of the alleged supply restrictions, according to reporting from Wccftech. The lawsuit seeks treble damages and asks the court to intervene and end what plaintiffs describe as a deliberate, industry-wide production squeeze.
A Pattern of Prior Conduct
The lawsuit points to criminal convictions from the 2000s to establish what it characterizes as a pattern of anti-competitive behavior. Samsung and SK Hynix each entered guilty pleas on Department of Justice price-fixing charges during that era, with the cases producing a combined $731 million in fines and landing several executives behind bars, according to Quartz. In May 2005, SK Hynix pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $185 million criminal fine, according to the Department of Justice. Samsung agreed to plead guilty in October 2005 and paid a $300 million criminal fine, according to Department of Justice records.
When comparable price-fixing allegations arose in 2018, Hagens Berman filed a similar class action lawsuit against the same three companies in the Northern District of California, alleging collusion during a 2016–2017 RAM price spike. That case was ultimately dismissed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2022, according to court records, but the new filing suggests plaintiffs believe the current DRAM surge provides fresh evidence of renewed misconduct.
The complaint names Judge Noel Wise as the assigned judge. The lawsuit seeks class-action status to represent all consumers and businesses that purchased products containing commodity DRAM during the price surge.
Sources
- Quartz — Lawsuit filed June 25, 2026, in Northern District of California; 17 plaintiffs; alleged HBM shift as cover for DRAM supply restriction; 700% price increase over four years; Samsung and SK Hynix 2005 guilty pleas and combined $731 million in fines
- Tom’s Hardware — SK Hynix $185 million fine in April 2005; Samsung guilty plea and criminal fine in October 2005
- Department of Justice — SK Hynix guilty plea and $185 million fine in April 2005; Samsung guilty plea and $300 million fine in October 2005
- Wccftech — Apple price increases on iPads and Macs cited as evidence; treble damages sought; lawsuit aims to represent broader class of consumers and businesses
