( WSJ ) - The Department of Justice has launched an antitrust investigation of the market for flash memory, the chips used to store data in digital cameras, music players and other gadgets.
Samsung Electronics Co., Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk Corp. said they had received subpoenas from the department, which already has won a series of convictions for price fixing in the market for chips known as DRAMs, or dynamic random access memories. The department last year also began investigating the market for chips known as SRAMs, or static random access memories.
The companies said the probe focuses on flash chips known as NAND, which have been in hot demand for storing data in products such as Apple Inc.'s iPod music player. Pricing for such chips rose 5% in the second quarter and is expected to rise 8% in the third quarter, after falling sharply in the five earlier quarters, said Nam Kim, an analyst at iSuppli Corp., a market-research firm.
However, Mr. Kim said he would have attributed the recent pricing moves to strong demand, not necessarily collective action by chip suppliers.
Samsung, the largest flash supplier by revenue, said it will cooperate with the probe. Toshiba, the No. 2 vendor, said the probe appears to be "industrywide" and also pledged to cooperate.
SanDisk, based in Milpitas, Calif., is best-known for cartridges that use flash chips but also has a joint venture with Toshiba to manufacture them. The company disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Justice Department subpoenas had been received both by the company and its chief executive, Eli Harari.
SanDisk also said it received a notice from the Canadian Competition Bureau that the agency has began an industrywide investigation of alleged anticompetitive activity in the supply of NAND flash-memory chips. The company said it would cooperate with the government investigations.