RAM Makers Sued Over Price Fixing

[profdlp]

Today's bigger and faster memory chips are much more difficult to manufacturer, hence the higher price. Of course, it didn't help that the big shots running the companies all got together and decided to take the free market out of the equation.

New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer sued leading makers of memory chips Thursday, claiming they made secret price-fixing arrangements that inflated the cost of personal computers and other electronic devices.

More than 30 other states were expected to file a separate but similar lawsuit against chip makers Friday in San Francisco federal court, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said.

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The New York suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, claims the companies colluded to fix prices on dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips from 1998 until 2002. The defendants are Micron, Samsung, Infineon, Elpida, Hynix, Mosel-Vitelic Corp., Nanya Technology Corp. and NEC Electronics America Inc.
It is typical in cases such as these for the state governments to rake in big bucks in fines while the little guy at the bottom - that's you, the customer - might get as much as a coupon for $3.50 off their next purchase.

Source: Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,203523,00.html)

[GHoosdum]

I love your commentary, prof! ;D

[TheSmJ]

I thought those were all Asian-based companies.

[Lincoln]

I thought those were all Asian-based companies.
If they have a presence here, they can be sued here.

[profdlp]

The article {ahem} mentioned that Micron is based in Boise, Idaho. I think the suit is targeted at the marketing practices, not the manufacturing process.

[RWB]

Now we just need to do the same to the gas/oil companies.

[GHoosdum]

Um... haven't you heard that BP is under investigation for propane price fixing, and Alaska has sued BP and ExxonMobil over natural gas prices in the past year?

[profdlp]

Now we just need to do the same to the gas/oil companies.
When Micron, Kingston, et al, start digging oil wells "we" probably will. ;)

After all the wailing in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina they did investigate. (http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/05/katrinagasprices.htm) Didn't find Jack.

Or maybe you'd rather pay European prices to begin with and be done with it.

Does it really matter what the topic of discussion is? It always seems to come back around to the same tired crap anyway... :rolleyes:

[mmonnin]

I thought those were all Asian-based companies.

I work for Micron....which is the ONLY America based RAM Manufacture. The rest have places in the US but are based in Asia somewhere.

Micron makes most of their Memory in the US. VA and ID actually. And Infineon is down the road in Richmond too.

Gonna have to bring this into work. Altho I know no one had my plant, its just a Fab, has any say in the prices I would still like to see what someone has to say.

Now to get the article onto Micron property....dont have Web access.

[ronbo]

I thought Patriot was also an American manufacture?

[mmonnin]

Patriot is a manufacture of DRAM modules or sticks like Crucial. Crucial just makes memory sticks from chips that Micron provides. All the companies named were ones that make chips.

Also down in the article Micron is the only one with a Stock extange abbreviation beside it, MU, while no other company does. IE its not American based.