11 March 2013/28 Raby’ ath-Thani 1434/21 Esfand 1391/30 Yi-Mao 4711

As war drums are beating, unnamed officials in Republic of Korea (ROK) are blaming Idaho based Micron Technology of fixing prices for computer memory chips: “It’s quite strange that the global memory chip market is seeing unexpected price rises amid less demand for conventional personal computers. It’s highly possible that the chipmakers are engaged in price-fixing. Among other firms, Micron Technology is apparently using its commanding position to manipulate computer chip prices. We are watching it closely.”

Micron apparently controls half the World’s chip market! ROK’s SK Hynix controls 30%, and Samsung 15%.  Those three companies are the only major memory chip makers left in the World, several years ago there were more than ten!

Officials from ROK base their claim on decreasing computer demand on information recently released by International Data Corporation.

This isn’t the first time Idaho’s Micron has been accused of price fixing.