Samsung to SK Hynix face lawsuit over RAM price hikes

Three technology giants—Samsung Electronics, Micron Technology, and SK Hynix—are reportedly facing a lawsuit in the US over allegations of manipulating global Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) shortages to cause prices to surge across many markets.

Reports from Gizmochina on Tuesday indicate that the three companies are facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

The lawsuit alleges that the three companies, which collectively control nearly 95 per cent of the global DRAM market, deliberately restricted the production of key DRAM chips even as demand from the smartphone and PC industries was strengthening.

The plaintiffs, consisting of individuals and small businesses, have dubbed this manipulation of RAM scarcity the “RAMpocalypse.”

The impact of this memory shortage has begun to affect gadget consumers, with Apple recently increasing the prices of its devices, including Macs, iPads, and other products. This move by Apple was a response to the skyrocketing memory costs associated with the explosion of the AI industry.

Filed by plaintiffs around 25 June 2026, the lawsuit claims that the companies violated antitrust laws (specifically Section 1 of the Sherman Act) by shifting production capacity towards high-performance and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI servers while withholding the production of standard DRAM.

This is not the first time these companies have faced such litigation. Previously, they faced similar allegations and ended up paying billions of dollars in fines in the 2000s following similar collusion investigations.

In the past, the companies have denied any wrongdoing, stating that their production and pricing decisions were merely reactions to market conditions and the massive surge in AI demand.

Overall, the current situation indicates that the memory market remains under heavy pressure. As DRAM has become one of the most expensive components in many gadgets, the development of this case could significantly impact prices, competition, and innovation across the global technology sector for years to come.