SK Hynix, Samsung, Micron lawsuit ties 700% DRAM spike to console price hikes
Summary
US class action accuses SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron of coordinating consumer DRAM exit to prioritize AI memory
Conventional DRAM prices rose ~700% over four years as the trio pivoted capacity to HBM for data centers
Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Valve have all raised hardware prices, with Valve citing the AI memory boom on Steam Machine
Micron posted a 1,398% YoY profit jump the same quarter it shut its Crucial consumer DRAM unit
01
Lawsuit revives a precedent the trio was already convicted under
Antitrust firm Bathaee Dunne LLP filed in the Northern District of California for consumers and brick-and-mortar retailers
Core claim: coordinated exit from DDR3/DDR4 plus supply and price fixing since 2022
Lawyers say cutting consumer DRAM defies "all economic and business logic" given Crucial's profitability at shutdown
The same three firms were criminally convicted of DRAM price-fixing between 1998 and 2002
$15-20 billion fab cost blocks new entrants from disciplining the incumbents
02
Console makers are absorbing the BOM hit in real time
Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Valve have all raised hardware prices as consumer DRAM supply tightened
Valve publicly blamed the AI memory boom for Steam Machine costing more than intended
Micron's 1,398% YoY profit surge landed the same quarter Crucial shut down at peak profitability
One industry expert told GamesIndustry.biz the current hardware market is "totally crazy"
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