Samsung's DRAM Lawsuit Deja Vu: Can a Price-Fixing Replay Derail Its Record-Breaking Chip Profits?
Shares of Samsung Electronics slid 4.9% to ₩323,000 as a new U.S. class-action lawsuit alleging coordinated DRAM price manipulation revived an uncomfortable chapter from the company's past — right as its memory division was printing the most profitable quarter in its history.
The Accusation: A 700% Price Spike That Plaintiffs Say Wasn't an Accident
Seventeen plaintiffs filed suit on June 25 in the Northern District of California, accusing Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron of illegally coordinating to restrict DRAM supply and inflate prices roughly 700% over four years.
The case invokes Section 1 of the Sherman Act and targets companies that together hold around 90% of the global DRAM market.
The complaint argues the trio used a coordinated shift toward high-bandwidth memory — the stacked chips that power AI processors — as cover to cut production of older, everyday memory modules, pushing prices to record highs while no rival could step in.
Samsung Has Been Here Before — And Paid Dearly This isn't hypothetical. Samsung pleaded guilty to criminal DRAM price-fixing in 2005 and was fined $300 million, while SK Hynix paid $185 million, for colluding on prices between 1998 and 2002.
If the plaintiffs prevail this time, the defendants would face treble damages — meaning any award would be tripled. That's a meaningful overhang given the scale of the alleged price surge.
The Profit Machine Under Scrutiny The lawsuit lands as Samsung's memory profits have never been fatter. Samsung's chip division posted ₩53.7 trillion ($36 billion) in operating income last quarter, accounting for 94% of the company's total operating profit.
Revenue hit a record ₩133.9 trillion, up roughly 70% year over year. The very conditions fueling these record earnings — soaring memory prices and tight supply — are now Exhibit A in the plaintiffs' complaint. Investors must weigh whether the legal risk warrants a discount on what has been a stunning earnings trajectory.
Wall Street Isn't Panicking Yet — But the Overhang Is Real
Jefferies expects DRAM prices to rise another 40–50% in Q3 and a further 30–40% in Q4, with no meaningful relief before 2028.
Analysts note the case faces a difficult task of proving deliberate collusion rather than simple market dynamics driven by legitimate AI demand. But with a prior guilty plea on file and a stock now trading at roughly 4.9× forward earnings, any legal settlement large enough to grab headlines could pressure a share price that was already priced for perfection.