Thirty-four states in the USA have filed lawsuits in U.S. federal court against eight DRAM manufacturers and their subsidiaries. They are claiming that the companies that include big names like Samsung, Hynix and Infineon maintained a secret agreement to raise prices from about 1998 to 2002.

In fact, the Justice Department has been conducting a probe of alleged DRAM price fixing since the last four years. And already 4 companies and 12 executives have so far pleaded guilty to participating in the conspiracy.

These latest rounds of lawsuits charge that DRAM manufactures maintained a secret agreement to raise prices from about 1998 to sometime in 2002. The states are seeking unspecified damages and restitution.

Bill Lockyer, attorney general for California spoke on this new development: “The defendants in this case conspired to rig the U.S. market for this essential computer product, working together to keep prices artificially high. In the process, they victimized individual consumers, governmental agencies, schools and taxpayers.”