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Samsung Electronic has belatedly admitted to conspiring with other chip makers to fix prices of DRAM exports to the U.S. and agreed to pay a US$300 million fine, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday (local time).
The settlement is the second highest anti-trust fine in U.S. history after pharmaceuticals giant Roche was fined $500 million in 1999.
Fellow Korean semiconductor firm Hynix and Germany¡¯s Infineon earlier admitted guilt and agreed to pay $185 million and $160 million respectively.
Between April 1999 and June 2002, the companies rigged prices through e-mails, meetings and phone calls, causing U.S. competitors like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Dell substantial losses, investigation showed.
The Justice Department said the settlement did not exempt the seven Samsung executives involved from criminal prosecution. The local press reported they may still be indicted. Four Infineon executives have served four to six months in jail and paid individual fines of $250,000 in the scandal.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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