German chipmaker Infineon Technologies has accused the South Korean
government of keeping Hynix Semiconductor, a rival manufacturer of
memory chips, "artificially alive" by providing the company with
"several billion dollars in government backing".
Infineon had filed a complaint with the European Commission before
the US Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an antitrust probe into
collusion on chip pricing, Infineon spokeswoman Katja Schlendorf
said.
"Our complaint with the commission has absolutely nothing to do
with the US investigation; these are two completely separate
cases," Schlendorf said. "We filed our complaint two weeks
ago.
"We believe, like many other manufacturers, that this is unfair aid
and distorts competition."
The German company filed the complaint alone. The consultation
period during which the commission will review the complaint will
last "several weeks", she said.
The DOJ is investigating possible antitrust violations in pricing
for dynamic RAM DRAM) memory chips. The investigation involves
Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics, Nanya Technology, Winbond
Electronics and Elpida Memory, in addition to Infineon and Hynix.
What success Infineon can expect from its complaint remains to be
seen: The German company itself benefited from a government subsidy
of €219m (£142m) to build a chip plant in Dresden. The commission
approved the subsidy in April.