X-bit labs

Europe vs. Korea.

Category: Other

by Anna Filatova

[ 07/31/2002 | 04:44 AM ]

The antimonopoly committee of the EU on Thursday refused to consider the suit brought by Infineon against the Korean Hynix and Samsung Companies. Infineon claims that the illegal financing of the Korean semiconductor manufacturers, which has been done for quite a long time by the banks within the competence of the Korean government, led to the collapse of the DRAM market and let Hynix and Samsung compete with Infineon unlawfully.

Despite the fact that Infineon mentioned the approximate sum of the financial investments around 2.3 billion dollars, Hynix and Samsung, as well as the "banks under governmental control" deny all illegal operations.

It is funny but about a year ago American Micron Company tried to put into life the same case. however, at that time, the Koreans managed to come off clear only due to the ongoing negotiations about the purchase of some Hynix fabs by Micron. This particular move inspired Micron to give up the investigation. I think that bearing in mind the new danger, Hynix might resume the negotiations with the potential customers from Europe or the States. Especially since 80% of the Hynix shares now belong to the company shareholders.