Memory makers face jail for price fixing
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THREE German executives and an American with microchip giant Infineon Technologies face jail terms and fines under plea agreements to settle a US probe into price-fixing, according to the Justice Department.
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Memory maker will pay $160 million in fines, DOJ says.
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Infineon Technologies AG agreed to plead guilty to fixing prices for digital memory chips and pay a $160 million criminal fine, the third largest US antitrust enforcement penalty, the Justice Department said.
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Samsung and a US subsidiary have agreed to pay $90 million to settle charges that it colluded to keep the price of DRAM memory artificially high.
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SAN JOSE, Calif. - South Korea&#39;s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. on Thursday (Dec. 30) said that it has set aside a $100 million provision against a DRAM price fixing scheme that has rocked the industry, according to published reports.
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(InfoWorld) - Sun Microsystems and Unisys have jointly filed a lawsuit against several major computer memory chip makers seeking compensation for alleged price fixing. The two computer makers individually filed lawsuits against the companies earlier this year but have now brought the cases together in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, according to a Friday court filing. The complaint names South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor, Infineon Technologies of Germany, Japan's Elpida Memory and Mitsubishi Electric, Taiwan's Mosel Vitelic and Nanya Technology, and U.S. and European units of some of the companies. The lawsuit is one of several filed against DRAM makers after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) began an investigation into price fixing in 2002. That has already seen a number of guilty pleas by companies and executives and fines have been levied against some DRAM makers. Last year Samsung ElectronicsÂ wasÂ ordered to pay a $300 million criminal fineÂ and HynixÂ agreed to pay $185 million. InfineonÂ paid $160 million,Â and Japan's Elpida agreed toÂ pay a $84 million fine.
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Soft Vista sales and overenthusiastic factory construction are combining to deliver a nice present for those seeking DRAM bargains: Prices have tumbled to their lowest levels of 2007, and analysts say the fun may not be over yet.
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LONDON, September 16 (New Ratings) - Infineon Technologies (IFX.ETR) has agreed to plead guilty and to pay a fine of $160 million to settle the federal charges of participating in an international conspiracy of DRAM price fixing.
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A court found a German software dealer guilty of counterfeiting Microsoft products, and sentenced him to three years in prison, authorities said Wednesday.
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Four executives at German memory vendor Infineon Technologies AG and its US subsidiary have pled guilty to charges of illegally setting prices for PC memory chips, the US Department of Justice announced Thursday.
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Company calls new flash memory module a poor value and says it limits flexibility.
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An executive at Samsung Electronics, the world's largest manufacturer of DRAM (dynamic RAM), has agreed to plead guilty and serve jail time for participating in a global price-fixing conspiracy, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday.
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Three German executives and an American with microchip giant Infineon Technologies face jail terms and fines under plea agreements to settle a US probe into price-fixing, the Justice Department said.
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Three German citizens and an American have agreed to serve jail time as part of an investigation into price fixing in the computer memory market.
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Memory chip maker Infineon Technologies yesterday pled guilty to breaching US antitrust laws for price fixing in its dynamic random access memory (or DRAM) chip business.
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Toshiba joins partner SanDisk in government probe over alleged price-fixing in memory industry.
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(InfoWorld) - Samsung Electronics, the world's largest DRAM (dynamic RAM) maker, agreed to pay $90 million in a DRAM price fixing suit raised by a group of U.S. state governments, the first company named in the suit to reach such an accord. Samsung also agreed to assist the states in resolving price-fixing charges against other defendants named in the suit, the Office of the New York State Attorney General said in a statement on Tuesday. The agreement ends the case against Samsung. TheÂ lawsuit was filed last JulyÂ by New York and 40 other U.S. states in a joint antitrust effort against several DRAM (dynamic RAM) makers over alleged price-fixing, adding to industry woes amid an ongoing federal investigation that has already led to $731 million in fines. They alleged the companies violated antitrust laws and harmed consumers by conspiring to fix prices through artificial supply restraints, dividing markets among themselves and rigging bids on DRAM contracts during a four year period between 1998 and 2002. The price fixing scheme caused computer makers such as Apple and DellÂ to pay more for DRAM than they would have in a competitive market, the suit alleged, and the costs were then passed on to consumers. The Samsung settlement will be used to benefit victims of high DRAM prices, with $80 million going to consumers and other victims, and $10 million being paid out to state and local governments. New York's attorney general said the state's specific share of the settlement will be determined in the future. Samsung's Seoul office declined to comment on the settlement, saying its U.S. subsidiary was handling all issues regarding the case. Hynix Semiconductor, another company named in the suit, said it is too early to tell what impact the Samsung deal may have on the case. "We're still looking into the matter. We haven't decided anything yet," said Kim Ah-Young, a Hynix representative. The accord with Samsung is subject to approval by the federal court in San Francisco. The litigation will continue against other DRAM makers named in the suit, including U.S.-based Micron Technology, Infineon Technologies of Germany, South Korea's Hynix, Japan's Elpida Memory and NEC Electronics America, Taiwan's Mosel Vitelic and Nanya TechnologyÂ as well as their U.S. subsidiaries. The case by the states started after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation had already led to several guilty pleas, which resulted in millions of dollars in fines and jail time for a dozen individuals from four companies. In late 2005,Â Samsung was ordered to payÂ a $300 million criminal fine in the DOJ case, while South Korean rivalÂ Hynix Semiconductor agreed to payÂ $185 million. Infineon Technologies, of Germany, wasÂ first to pay a fineÂ of $160 million, in late 2004. Earlier last year, Japan'sÂ Elpida Memory agreed to plead guiltyÂ and pay a $84 million fine.