The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has subpoenaed Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as part of an antitrust investigation into the market for graphics processors and graphics cards, AMD said Thursday. AMD recently entered the graphics chip business with its acquisition of ATI Technologies, which was finalized last month. The DoJ has not made any allegations against AMD or ATI, and AMD intends to cooperate with the investigation, it said.While the DoJ hasn’t said specifically what it is investigating, one industry analyst speculated that the case could be about price fixing. The DoJ has already charged a number of chip companies in the dynamic RAM (DRAM) memory chip market with price fixing, and is investigating several in the static RAM (SRAM) chip market.“If the DoJ wanted to, it could just go down every line in the semiconductor industry and find the same issue,” said Gartner analyst Richard Gordon. That’s because there are a relatively few number of suppliers in the chip industry and an open flow of communication between competitors and customers, who may not define price fixing the same way the DoJ does, he said. The investigations are unlikely to benefit end users, according to Gordon. Historically, prices in the chip industry have gone up and down based on supply and demand, and he doubts that such investigations will result in lower pricing. A spokeswoman for AMD in Europe, Hollis Krym, said she did not know if the investigation has a broad scope and includes other graphics chip companies or if it is in the context of the ATI acquisition. U.S. antitrust authorities have already approved AMD’s merger with ATI. In the DRAM market, the DoJ has charged Samsung Electronics, Hynix Semiconductor America, Elpida Memory and Infineon Technologies with price fixing and sentenced the companies to pay multimillion-dollar fines.Sony, Cypress Semiconductor and the U.S. arms of Mitsubishi Electric, Samsung Electronics and Toshiba have all been asked to turn over information to the DoJ for an investigation into SRAM price fixing.-Nancy Gohring, IDG News Service (Dublin Bureau)Related Links: Mitsubishi SRAM Sales Probed by U.S. DoJ SRAM Industry Probe Hits Toshiba U.S. Expands SRAM Antitrust Probe to Samsung Samsung Exec Pleads Guilty in DRAM CaseCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content BrandPost How to power a sustainable enterprise on Microsoft Cloud In this eBook, we’ll follow the journey of Amal Skye, a fictitious woman who is committed to living in a way that preserves the planet for the future —and how businesses like Tata Consultancy Services and Microsoft are making that possi By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 24, 2023 1 min Financial Services Industry BrandPost Powering a sustainable future: How data can save the world – and your business In this webinar, Microsoft’s Rosie Mastrandrea, TCS’ Jai Mishra, and Equinor’s Vegard Torset explore the crossroads of data and digital transformation — and how the right approach can unlock your sustainability goals. By Tata Consultancy Services Mar 24, 2023 1 min Financial Services Industry Digital Transformation Feature Industry clouds prove their business value Born of partnerships and ecosystem-centric by their nature, cloud solutions aimed at specific verticals are taking root, forming a complex, rapidly evolving market CIOs must be strategic about entering. By Paula Rooney Mar 24, 2023 7 mins Cloud Computing Feature What is data governance? Best practices for managing data assets Data governance defines roles, responsibilities, and processes for ensuring accountability for and ownership of data assets across the enterprise. By Thor Olavsrud Mar 24, 2023 10 mins IT Governance Frameworks Big Data Data Mining Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe