The class action filed June 25 in the Northern District of California accuses Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron of coordinating production cuts and a collective shift toward high-bandwidth memory since 2022. Plaintiffs claim the trio, which controls the bulk of global DRAM supply, reduced output of conventional DDR3 and DDR4 modules while directing capacity to AI-oriented HBM, driving consumer RAM prices up by roughly 700 percent over four years.

The complaint argues that in a functioning market at least one of the three would have expanded conventional DRAM output in response to record prices, yet none did. It points to prior antitrust actions, including fines against Samsung and SK Hynix for a 1998–2002 price-fixing conspiracy, as evidence of a pattern. Barriers to new entrants are cited as an additional factor locking in the oligopoly.

Lenovo has already signaled that elevated prices may represent a new normal. The suit, brought by Bathaee Dunne LLP on behalf of affected consumers and businesses, seeks damages for what it describes as coordinated anticompetitive conduct that left the consumer market starved while margins on AI memory soared.

Q3 revenue misses and further price spikes are now being discussed in earnings calls with the same flat affect one might reserve for spreadsheet footnotes.