Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix sued over artificial RAM shortage and price hikes
The skyrocketing prices of memory chips, driven largely by the huge demand for AI, have now landed the big three DRAM makers in hot water.

Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology (which together control nearly 95% of the global DRAM market) are facing a new class action lawsuit filed in California’s Northern District federal court. The suit accuses them of deliberately restricting production of key DRAM chips, even as demand from smartphones and PCs remains very strong.
According to the plaintiffs (which include individuals and small businesses), this artificial shortage has fueled what some are calling the “RAMpocalypse.” DRAM prices have shot up dramatically, in some cases by hundreds of percent, far more than what normal market forces would explain.
The impact is already being felt by everyday consumers. Apple recently raised prices on Macs, iPads, and other products, openly blaming surging memory and storage costs tied to the AI boom. Other PC and smartphone makers have also adjusted pricing or delayed launches.
The lawsuit, filed around June 25, 2026, claims the companies violated antitrust laws (specifically Section 1 of the Sherman Act) by shifting production capacity toward high-margin, high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI servers while holding back on standard DRAM. This isn’t the first time these companies have faced such allegations: they paid billions in fines in the 2000s after similar collusion investigations.
So far, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron haven’t given detailed public responses to the new suit. In the past, they’ve denied any wrongdoing, saying their decisions on production and pricing are simply reactions to market conditions and the massive surge in AI demand.
The memory market is still under heavy pressure. Lenovo expects supply to remain tight well into 2027–2028 as data centers keep eating up chips, with new factories taking time to come online.
With DRAM now being one of the most expensive parts in many devices, how this case unfolds could have a big impact on pricing, competition, and innovation across the entire tech world for years to come.
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