Hynix Semiconductor says U.S. court needs more evidence in memory chip suit

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. said Monday that a U.S. court has told Sun Microsystems Inc. and Unisys Corp. to submit more evidence for their antitrust lawsuit against the South Korean memory chip maker and six other technology companies.

Sun Microsystems and Unisys filed a combined suit on Sept. 1, 2006, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the companies, accusing them of keeping prices artificially high for computer memory chips.

"The judge did not completely dismiss the filing," said Hynix spokeswoman Kim Ah-young. "He only said they (Sun and Unisys) failed to specify their damages. He said he needs more details."

She said the court's comments came Friday.

The suit also targeted Taiwanese manufacturers Mosel Vitelic Inc., Nanya Technology Corp. and Winbond Electronics Corp.; Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp.; and Germany's Infineon Technologies AG.

The chips, know was dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, are used in an array of gadgets, including personal computers, printers, digital cameras, video recorders, video game equipment and cellular phones.

The Seoul offices of Sun Microsystems and Unisys could not immediately be reached for comment.

The case hinges on findings by the U.S. Department of Justice, which said in June 2002 that it uncovered a "long-standing conspiracy" among the world's DRAM suppliers.

The investigation resulted in more than US$730 million in fines and guilty pleas from four companies, including Hynix.

Hynix, the world's second-largest DRAM manufacturer, has been involved in a rash of litigation and international disputes over memory chip production.

Last month, the Icheon, South Korea-based company and Japan's Toshiba Corp. ended a legal feud over NAND flash memory chips by signing agreements to share semiconductor patents and products.

NAND chips are used in digital cameras, music players including Apple Inc.'s iPod Nano, handheld computers and memory cards.

In 2003, the U.S. levied a duty of 44.29 percent and the European Union slapped a 34.8 percent tariff on Hynix's DRAM chips, alleging that government-affiliated banks had subsidized Hynix's production via low-interest loans.

The World Trade Organization ruled in 2005 that some of the South Korean government's financial support for Hynix was illegal, citing restructuring loans and debt-for-equity swaps made by state-controlled banks when the company was on the verge of collapse.

South Korea and Japan are also locking horns at the WTO after Tokyo last year imposed import duties on Hynix DRAM chips.