Rambus accuses Micron and Hynix of DRAM conspiracy

THE WALL Street Journal said Rambus has passed it a series of e-missives which, it is alleged, point to a global conspiracy between major memory companies Micron and Hynix.

According to Rambus, the emails show that the memory firms artificially manipulated prices to beat off acceptance of the firms RDRAM technology and supplant it with DDR memory.

Intel backed Rambus RDRAM technology.

Micron is alleged to have said in one email to a Hynix executive that it had talked to other chip firms including Samsung and Infineon to drive Rambus out of the market by keeping DDR memory prices down.

Hynix and Micron deny the allegations - the backdrop being that Rambus has filed antitrust litigation against these firms, as well as Samsung.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) failed to secure an antitrust conviction against Rambus itself, but is currently appealing that case. µ

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