Big DRAM Manufacturers Facing Class Action

The three largest manufacturers of DRAM (dynamic random access memory), used in personal computers, workstations and servers, have been served with a class action lawsuit. The suit, filed April 27 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that Samsung, Hynix, and Micron colluded to limit supplies of the memory type and drive up prices. It seeks a settlement for anyone in the United States who purchased a device using DRAM between July 1, 2016 and February 1, 2018. DRAM is used in Android smartphones, Windows laptops, MacBooks, iPhones, gaming consoles and other devices. The primary evidence cited is an independent investigation conducted by Hagens Berman, the plaintiff firm, that claims to have discovered an agreement between the manufacturers to raise the price. According to the firm, there was a 47 percent spike in the price of DRAM in 2017, the largest increase in decades. Prior to last year, the price of DRAM dropped year after year.