Memory Price-Fixing Allegations Resurface as DRAM Giants Face New Antitrust Class Action

The hosts of DHUnplugged, John C. Dvorak and Andrew Horowitz, dedicated significant airtime in Episode 808 to dissecting a new antitrust class action targeting the memory chip industry. The lawsuit, filed in the United States, alleges that Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—which collectively control approximately 90% of the DRAM market—engaged in coordinated supply cuts that drove conventional DRAM prices up roughly 700% over four years. The hosts drew parallels to the 2005 DRAM price-fixing case, in which Hynix paid $180 million, Samsung $300 million, and Infineon $160 million in penalties. The current allegations revive concerns about market manipulation in a sector critical to AI and data-center infrastructure.

The episode, titled Bulls in a Bubble Shop, aired on June 30, 2026, as the first half of the year closed with the S&P 500 up about 7.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 52,000. AI hardware names have been particularly strong, with SanDisk up 780%, Micron up 300%, Western Digital up 240%, and Seagate up 226% for the half. South Korea's KOSPI surged 125%, driven by Samsung and SK Hynix. Yet Dvorak questioned the sustainability of the AI infrastructure buildout, arguing that compute is shifting back to the desktop via Nvidia Blackwell-powered mini machines, potentially leaving server farms underutilized and memory prices vulnerable to collapse.

Horowitz focused on what he called a contradiction in the new Trump Accounts program, set to launch July 4. The initiative provides a $1,000 Treasury-funded seed for newborns, which Horowitz criticized as a "forced financial literacy experiment wrapped in a political brand name with a socialist starter check to teach capitalism." He also flagged PCE inflation climbing to 4.1% and the Bank for International Settlements warning about AI-boom financial-stability risks.

Other topics included SpaceX's newly issued investment-grade bonds already trading below par, Japan's yen at 162 to the dollar and hints of Bank of Japan intervention, Chevron's 20-year Project Kilby data-center power deal with Microsoft, Comcast's split of NBCUniversal and Sky, the Interior Department slashing federal drilling bonds 95% to $25,000, Wendy's brief meme-stock spike after CFO Steve Cyrilus arrived from Potbelly, and gold slipping below $4,000 as Bitcoin sank to $58,600. Horowitz also previewed an upcoming Peter Schiff interview on The Disciplined Investor.

The episode is available at dhunplugged.com and via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and RSS.