• ikt@aussie.zoneOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      12
      ·
      1 day ago

      they’re not colluding this is a left wing conspiracy theory which is weird because demand is obviously coming from ai hyperscalers

      • Zron@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        17 hours ago

        You mean the companies that have been tried and convicted in the past of forming a cartel to manipulate DRAM prices, and are now all raising prices through the roof and showing record profits, are not colluding again?

        Just because the demand is coming from a different market doesn’t mean the manufacturers aren’t colluding to raise prices and gouge their customers.

        • ikt@aussie.zoneOP
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          14 hours ago

          i mean micron literally left the consumer dram business because ai hyperscaler demand is absolutely bonkers off the chart

          this is the opposite reason to collude, why risk massive fines and blow back when money is falling from the american sky?

          • Zron@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            27 minutes ago

            The first time Samsung and micron colluded on dram pricing was in the early 2000s when money was also falling from the sky due to high demand.

            The fines they were charged with were a fraction of the profits they gained from price fixing.

            It’s almost like having a limited number of manufacturers and a huge demand spike is actually an incentive for price fixing because they can work together to increase profits artificially.

            I don’t think you really understand how price fixing and near monopoly markets work. With monopolies and near monopolies, there’s no real downside to colluding on prices, especially in the US where fines are basically guaranteed to be less than profits, and when your company is not headquartered in the US and can’t be forcibly broken apart by the government. If you’re the only company, or one of 3, then you can set whatever price you want. As long as the conspirators agree to pricing, no one will bat an eye at claims of high demand or supply chain issues because all your conspirators also have similarly high pricing.

            Usually I say economists are insane cultists. But I really think you could benefit from reading some material on macroeconomics.