South Korean regulators raided the offices of Chinese chipmaker Montage Technology on July 15 as part of a sweeping competition investigation into alleged price-fixing of memory interface chips. The probe also targeted offices of Japan’s Renesas Electronics and US-based Rambus, signaling that authorities believe the suspected collusion may span multiple continents.
The investigation centers on whether these three companies coordinated pricing on components supplied to the world’s largest memory manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron.
What happened and why it matters
South Korean authorities allege the companies may have violated the country’s Fair Trade Act by colluding on prices for memory interconnect chips.
Montage Technology holds a 36.8% share of the global market in memory interconnect chips by revenue as of 2024. Montage’s shares dropped approximately 23% in Hong Kong trading after the news broke. Shanghai-listed shares fell 16.4%.
