China: South Korean and American chipmakers investigated

China is conducting an investigation into price-fixing allegations against Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology, which are the three largest memory semiconductor manufacturers in the world, reported the Financial Times (FT).

The Ministry of Commerce of China summoned Micron Technology executives, expressing concerns over an excessive rise in memory semiconductor prices that has continued for quarters and pointing out that unfair competition based on an abuse of market dominance should not happen in any case. On May 31, the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) raided the three companies’ offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen for investigation purposes.

Samsung, the Korean electronics company, said in a statement on Monday, June 4, that investigators from the SAMR had visited its Chinese sales offices at the end of last month. The company was “co-operating with Chinese authorities,” it said. Micron, the US memory chip giant, told Reuters on Friday, June 1, that it had also been visited by SAMR. Micron could not be reached for comment

Established in March this year, the bureau is a powerful market supervisor organized by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Commerce Ministry and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce. The ongoing investigation is the bureau’s first large-scale investigation.

Full Content: Financial Times

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