The South Korean chip industry is tightening its monitoring of increasing protectionist moves by China and the US as they are faced with probes and suspicions of price collusion, according to the industry on Monday.

“We are paying more heedful attention to news about accusations of patent infringements or price collision these days as such moves seem to be growing dramatically,” an industry official told The Korea Herald on the condition of anonymity.

“However, such large companies like Samsung and SK view such an issue as manageable at their levels, while continuing to communicate well with the government and other partners,” the official added.

Such comments were made in response to the latest announcement by the US International Trade Commission on Friday that it will launch an investigation into major providers of solid state drives, stacked electronics components and other products containing such parts. 

The institution presented a list of respondents in the investigation, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, US-based Dell and HP, Taiwan-based ASUS and Acer and China’s Lenovo. The companies were accused by California-based SSD maker BiTMICRO.

It is not the first ITC investigation into the Korean chipmakers.

There is an ongoing probe, which was launched in late October, into Samsung and SK hynix on the same allegation with their DRAM chips and products involving them among US imports.

Such protectionist action is aligned with the Donald Trump administration’s move to impose antidumping tariffs on Korean-made washing machines being exported to the country at the complaint of Whirpool. Trump described Korea as “dumping washing machines into the US” in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.

Meanwhile, China is reportedly pressing Samsung and SK by accusing them of possible coordination of action for prices, according to local media.

The country’s National Development and Reform Commission, an antitrust regulator, has spoken to Samsung about possible price fixing, deeming it as a cause of the price surge for the past 18 months, the China Daily reported quoting a senior official last month.

According to market researcher DRAMeXchange, the average selling price for DRAM skyrocketed by more than 40 percent in 2017 while NAND flash ASPs surged by nearly 40 percent during the same year, a phenomenon that the industry explains is caused by short supplies versus skyrocketing demands.

“The meeting between NDRC and Samsung took place because the Chinese government has received appeals from domestic smartphone makers that are struggling under component cost pressure,” said Avril Wu, research director of DRAMeXchange, in a statement earlier this month.

Both Samsung and SK’s public relations officials declined to comment on the issue.

Ahn Ki-hyun, executive director of Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, said, “Price fixing is too a sensitive an issue that the companies can’t take any action against such an accusation.”

“It seems like a lot of complaints are coming from Chinese and US customers of Samsung or SK hynix about abnormally high prices of premium chipsets these days,” the official said. “Such government-level actions may serve as a factor undermining the companies’ bargaining power if they continue.”

While Samsung‘s China business -- which used to center on smartphones and TVs -- has been severely hit by the country’s anti-Korea sentiment due to a series of geopolitical issues, its semiconductor business in Xian is continuing to generate a significant portion of its revenue from China, which has slid to a nearly fourth of 2013, according to a Samsung official.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldorp.com)