Micron Technology Inc. (Boise, ID) reported that it is not expecting a fine following Infineon Technologies' fine in September for price-fixing in the DRAM market. Micron is in production with its first flash chip, a 2 Gbit device made on a 90 nm process.
"Micron will not be penalized," stated Micron CEO Steve Appleton. "We've been giving evidence to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and we will not be getting a fine. I don't think the selling price of DRAM is reflected by anything except the price and demand curve -- there are still a lot of producers. Unless you have 100 percent control, it's not possible to control pricing. You have to back up a step when you look at the DOJ -- they're theoretical -- they don't like any company talking to any other company in the same business."
