700% Memory Price Surge: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Suspected of Collusion

The world's largest RAM manufacturers Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron must explain in court why the prices of their chips have risen by hundreds of percent over the recent period — according to the data presented, up to 700%. Previously, the companies claimed that such a price surge reflects only the "balance of price and demand" in a scarce market.

What's behind the price surge

A shortage of memory chips has become acute against the backdrop of explosive demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Data centers are massively purchasing DDR5 modules and specialized HBM memory (High Bandwidth Memory), without which modern accelerators for training and inference of large language models cannot function. Demand from AI chip manufacturers and cloud providers expanding their server fleets collided with limited production capacity — and memory prices soared several times faster than most other computer components. As a result, not only server modules became more expensive, but also regular RAM for personal computers and laptops, since factories are redirecting capacity toward more profitable AI memory.

• Memory price growth reached approximately 700% according to the data presented
• Three companies at the center of the court proceedings — Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron
• Previous explanation from the companies — "balance of price and demand"
• Three manufacturers control almost all the global DRAM market

Who ended up at the center of the investigation

South Korean Samsung Electronics and SK hynix and American Micron Technology — the three largest manufacturers of DRAM RAM and NAND flash memory in the world. Together, they produce the vast majority of memory modules used in personal computers, smartphones, servers, and specialized accelerators for artificial intelligence. Such market concentration in the hands of just three players was one of the reasons their pricing policy came under close scrutiny: when so few suppliers control the market and the price of goods increases many times over with formally stable demand, antitrust agencies usually check the version of collusion instead of honest price competition.

Why regulators were suspicious of the memory market

When a market is held by three to four companies and commodity prices rise several-fold with formally stable demand, antitrust authorities typically investigate the collusion version instead of fair price competition. The DRAM market already has a similar history: in the mid-2000s, Samsung, Hynix, Infineon, and several other memory manufacturers admitted guilt or paid fines in lawsuits over cartel collusion in the United States and the European Union. The current proceedings are unfolding against the backdrop of a far more acute shortage caused by the AI data center boom, which makes the pricing question especially sensitive for both regulators and buyers of server equipment.

The argument of companies about "price and demand balance" — a standard defense in such cases: manufacturers point to objective deficiencies in production capacity and growing demand from AI infrastructure customers as a market-driven, not cartel-driven, explanation for the price spike. The court will have to determine where the objective market reaction to shortage ends and where coordinated behavior by competitors begins.

What this means

For the AI infrastructure market, the outcome of the proceedings will directly affect server costs: memory remains one of the most scarce and expensive components of AI accelerators, and the court's decision may influence both the further dynamics of prices and how quickly manufacturers will increase chip output.