Quote:However, reports that that companies were planning on increasing production of DRAM and NAND below the expected increases in supply demand may have turned at least some regulatory eyes towards the issue. China's National Development and Reform Commission's Pricing Supervision Department (NDRC) said they are aware of the situation, how it could point towards price-fixing from the four major NAND production players (Samsung, Hynix, Micron and Toshiba), and are looking into the matter. "We have noticed the price surge and will pay more attention to future problems that may be caused by 'price fixing' in the sector," the official Xu Xinyu was quoted as saying in an interview to Chinese newspaper Daily China.

Quote:Don't get too excited yet, gerbils, because the investigation isn't a formal accusation. As China Daily points out, smartphone manufacturers have put insanely-high demand on the memory market. It's possible that the high prices are simply the result of basic supply-and-demand economics at work. However, this wouldn't be the first time that memory manufacturers have colluded on pricing. Back in the early 2000s all of the largest memory manufacturers—Hynix, Infineon, Micron, Samsung, and Elpida—were found to be guilty of price-fixing collusion and faced heavy fines from the US government.

Quote:According to a story broken by Financial Times, that investigation has yielded evidence that the aforementioned companies conspired to increase DRAM prices. Wu Zhenguo, head of China’s anti-monopoly bureau, stated that the investigation has “yielded massive evidence;” however, no evidence has been made public yet.

Until the Chinese Government decides to be more forthcoming with the evidence, it’s worth taking this information with a grain of salt. So far, none of the big three have responded to the allegations, either. When more information comes into the public sphere, we’ll keep you informed accordingly.