China Probes If Chipmakers Are Fixing Prices Again

China is investigating the world’s biggest manufacturers of memory chips to determine whether they illegally conspired to prop up prices, a high-stakes probe that could rattle the technology industry and exacerbate global trade tensions. Samsung Electronics Co., SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc. have all confirmed that Chinese government officials visited their offices, without providing details of the probe. Chinese regulators haven’t disclosed precisely what they are looking for or what evidence they have uncovered. The inquiry comes just as the U.S. and China clash over trade practices, with the Trump administration announcing tariffs on $50 billion of imports and China responding with similar tariffs on hundreds of American products.

Samsung, the world’s largest chipmaker, Hynix and Micron all said Chinese investigators visited their sales offices in that country on May 31. Together, the three companies control more than 90 percent of the market for dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips, which are used to help process data in smartphones, tablets and other devices. All three said they will cooperate with the investigations.