China reports “massive evidence” of price-fixing by chipmakers

An ongoing investigation by Chinese regulators into three of the world’s largest semiconductor companies has uncovered convincing signs of anti-competitive behaviour, said officials in Beijing.

The probe, targeting South Korea’s Samsung and Hynix and US-based Micron Technology, has made “important progress” but officials are yet to provide specific claims of competition violations.

“The anti-monopoly investigation into these three companies has made important progress…[It] has yielded massive evidence,” said Wu Zhenguo, the head of China’s anti-monopoly bureau.

The three companies under investigation make up around 95% of global dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip sales, according to the Financial Times, which are used in all computers and smartphones. The investigation is chasing up claims of artificially-high prices, which has hurt less profitable chipmakers on the mainland.