It is
the second largest criminal antitrust fine in US history.
The US Department of Justice launched an investigation into DRAM
price fixing in 2002, concerned by dramatic price rises in the
market that took place in 2001. The investigation, which is
ongoing, targeted DRAM makers Micron Technology, Samsung, Hynix
Semiconductor, Nanya Technologies and Infineon.
Infineon was the first company to admit wrongdoing and, in
September last year, was fined $160 million. Hynix followed suit in
April, receiving a fine of $185 million, and Samsung, which holds
the largest share in the DRAM market, has now agreed to settle its
part of the investigation.
According to the charges filed yesterday in the US District
Court in San Francisco, between 1st April 1999 and 15th June 2002,
Samsung and its US subsidiary Samsung Semiconductor Inc, conspired
with other DRAM manufacturers to fix the prices of DRAM sold to
certain computer and server manufacturers, including Dell, HP, IBM
and Apple.
Under the plea agreement, which must be approved by the court,
Samsung has agreed to cooperate with the government in its ongoing
investigation of other DRAM producers.
“Price fixing threatens our free market system, stifles
innovation, and robs American consumers of the benefit of
competitive prices,” said Attorney General Alberto R Gonzales.
“Today’s guilty plea is evidence of the Department’s ongoing
commitment to protect consumers from corporations that engage in
illegal conduct.”
According to the BBC, Samsung described the charges as now being
“fully resolved”.
"Samsung strongly supports fair competition and ethical
practices and forbids anti-competitive behaviour," it said in a
statement.
But the Justice Department is not only targeting the companies
involved in the cartels. In December last year, four Infineon
executives pleaded guilty to the DRAM price-fixing conspiracy and
served jail terms of between four and six months. Each has also
paid a $250,000 fine.
In December 2003, the Department charged Alfred P Censullo, a
Regional Sales Manager for Micron Technology Inc, with obstruction
of justice. He pleaded guilty and admitted to having withheld and
altered documents responsive to a grand jury subpoena served on
Micron in June 2002. Censullo was sentenced to serve six months of
home detention, says the Department.
According to reports, the recently announced Samsung settlement
does not extend to cover seven employees of the firm, who may face
prosecution in the future.
