The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday said it will conduct research to assess whether two of the nation's computer-memory chip makers are involved in price fixing practices as a US class action lawsuit has alleged.
"There have been market rumors [about them driving up prices of computer memory] but the commission cannot jump to a conclusion right away unless concrete evidence is present," said FTC Chairwoman Chou Ya-shu (
She said the commission will be closely watching developments.
In a press release yesterday, the commission said 34 states in the US have indicated that they plan to file a class action lawsuit against a group of seven international manufacturers of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips.
The top five firms facing the lawsuits are Samsung Electronics Co and Hynix Semiconductor Inc, both based in South Korea, the US' Micron Technology Inc, Germany's Infineon AG and Tokyo-based Elpida Memory Inc, which in total control around 80 percent of the world market, the statement said.
The other two companies are Taiwanese firms -- Nanya Technology Corp (
"Compared with their international peers, Nanya and Mosel Vitelic are just price takers and their influence on the DRAM price should be limited," the commission said.
None of the DRAM firms implicated in the class action have ever faced actions from local buyers under the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法), according to the commission. But the commission said it will keep a close eye on the market situation to troubleshoot any irregularities.
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