Jul 1, 2026
An antitrust lawsuit has been filed in California alleging that three chipmakers have engaged in collusion and price-fixing, amid a global shortage of memory chips that is driving up prices for manufacturers and consumers.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against chip giants Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron. The 17 named plaintiffs are a mix of individuals and small businesses.
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The suit alleges the companies engaged in “concerted anticompetitive behavior,” calling the companies “oligopolists” in the DRAM (dynamic random-access memory) market, according to a report from PC Gamer magazine.
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It alleges that the chipmakers have been fixing the supply and price of DRAM since 2022, driving the cost of conventional DRAM up by approximately 700%.
According to Wccftech, the companies allegedly manipulated prices and supplies by bringing about a coordinated “pivot” to AI-critical High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM), using this as justification to limit the production of older memory formats.
Chip shortages drive up costs
The lawsuit comes as memory chips shortages become a growing concern across the tech industry. If you haven’t heard about the “RAMpocalypse,” or “RAMmageddon” yet, you might not be reading tech or gaming news.
But this global shortage of memory chips could impact more than just those who are tech-inclined. Prices are rising and anyone looking to upgrade their devices might feel the burn. Trade associations say it could also hit the manufacturers of vehicles, medical devices and other goods.
Since 2025, the demand for memory chips has driven up costs amid supply shortfalls. Manufacturers are racing to keep up with the demand from the AI boom, but the need for advanced memory chips, such as HBM semiconductors, has meant that manufacturers have shifted resources from producing the chips used in goods such as smartphones, computers and other consumer electronics.
PC Gamer found in a January report that a desktop RAM (random access memory) kit that had been priced between $80 and $100 on Amazon for most of 2024 and 2025 had climbed to $364 (at the time of publication, the price sits at $599).
The biggest price increase news might have been from Apple, which raised the price of computers and tablets at the end of June.
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“We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly,” Apple said in a statement. “We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today’s increases for iPad and Mac.”
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Lawsuit alleges price fixing
Against the backdrop of soaring prices, the class-action lawsuit against Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, is seeking that the court “remedy the ongoing effects of Defendants’ unlawful and anticompetitive conduct, including requiring Defendants to cease coordinated supply restriction and restore competitive conditions in the conventional DRAM market,” Polygon reported.
In a statement to Moneywise, Micron denied the allegations, saying in part “[we] compete vigorously, fairly and in compliance with all applicable laws wherever we do business. We will defend ourselves against these claims.”
Samsung and SK Hynix did not respond to Moneywise’s request for comment in time for publication.
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Rebecca Payne has more than a decade of experience editing and producing both local and national daily newspapers. She's worked on the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Metro, Canada's National Observer, the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.
