Hynix agrees to pay $3.32 mln to settle price-fixing case: court report

By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Yonhap) -- Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world's second-largest
memory chipmaker, agreed to pay US$3.32 million to settle a claim in the United
States accusing the company of price-fixing on memory chips, according to a U.S.
court record released Friday.

Hynix was among the six memory chipmakers that have agreed to pay a total of $25
million to the plaintiffs -- a group of purchasers of static random access memory
(SRAM) chips used for computers and mobile devices -- a document from the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of California showed.
The settlement is subject to the court's approval, it added. The court is
expected to make ruling in the first half of this year.
"Hynix has agreed to pay $3,322,476.99 ("Settlement Payment") to the Class in
exchange for a dismissal with prejudice and a release of all claims asserted in
the Complaint," the court record said.
Other memory chipmakers that have agreed to settle are Micron Technology Inc.,
Renesas-Hitachi-Mitsubishi, NEC Electronics Corp., Etron Technology Inc. and
Integrated Silicon Solution Inc.
In 2007, the group of SRAM direct purchasers lodged a class action suit, claiming
that the manufacturers fixed prices, reduced production and allocated markets and
customers for the sale of SRAM in the U.S. from 1996-2005. Hynix denied all
allegations, according to the court document.
The plaintiffs include companies that design equipment for telecommunication
operators and technology consulting firms.
"The suit is ongoing, and we have no official comment," said Park Seong-ae, a
spokeswoman for Hynix, based in Icheon, South Korea.
Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest memory chipmaker, was also among the
defendants in the lawsuit.
ylee@yna.co.kr
(END)

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