German Chipmaker Infineon To Pay 160 Million Dollar Antitrust Fine

WASHINGTON (AFP) - German microchip giant Infineon Technologies agreed to plead guilty and to pay a 160 million dollar fine for participating in "an international conspiracy to fix prices" US officials said.

Under the plea agreement, which must be approved by a judge, Infineon has agreed to cooperate with the government in its ongoing investigation of other producers of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, the most commonly used semiconductor memory product.

A one-count felony charge filed in the US District Court in San Francisco alleges that Infineon participating in a price-fixing scheme from July 1, 1999 to June 15, 2002 with unnamed companies.

"This case sends the message that high-tech price-fixing cartels will not be tolerated -- a message reinforced by the largest criminal fine levied in a Department of Justice case in the past three years," said Attorney General John Ashcroft.