If there is a reason for governments to be concerned about companies becoming monopolies is because as a monopoly, customers have no choice but to buy from you, which in turn means companies could charge an arm and a leg to take advantage of their position. Unfortunately that seems to be a position that Samsung has found themselves in.According to a lawsuit filed against the company, it seems that Samsung is being accused of leveraging its position in the market and colluding with other DRAM suppliers to hike up the prices of the component. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status on behalf of all US consumers of smartphones and computing products from companies such as Samsung, Hynix, and Micron, where they claim that these three companies collectively control 96% of the worldwide supply of DRAM components.
Steve Berman, a managing partner of Hagens Berman said, “What we’ve uncovered in the DRAM market is a classic antitrust, price-fixing scheme in which a small number of kingpin corporations hold the lion’s share of the market. Instead of playing by the rules, Samsung, Micron and Hynix chose to put consumers in a chokehold, wringing the market for more profit.”
Samsung and the other companies involved in the lawsuit have yet to comment on it.