Amid memory shortages and skyrocketing prices, Samsung is reportedly investigating whether some of its employees are accepting kickbacks on memory shipments.
According to DigiTimes, Samsung is interviewing employees in Taiwan and has made “personnel changes” in its marketing and sales divisions. Samsung tells DigiTimes that the investigation is “part of routine operating procedures,” but declined to comment further.
Bribing someone over memory might sound desperate, but the shortage is affecting even the most established players. Micron, for example, ditched its consumer business altogether. Having a guaranteed supply might be worth the risk for some.
In the meantime, PC makers big and small are raising prices, and scammers have been quick to steal packages or return orders with older-gen memory sticks. We’re now starting to see knock-on effects, with higher prices on everything from GPUs and laptops to SSDs and even older-gen CPUs as people opt for DDR4 PCs instead of DDR5.
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It’s a complete mess that looks unlikely to end anytime soon. Supply issues are expected to last at least through 2026, as AI data center orders continue to suck up the majority of global memory and storage supplies.
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About Our Expert
Jon Martindale
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Jon Martindale is a tech journalist from the UK, with 20 years of experience covering all manner of PC components and associated gadgets. He’s written for a range of publications, including ExtremeTech, Digital Trends, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and Lifewire, among others. When not writing, he’s a big board gamer and reader, with a particular habit of speed-reading through long manga sagas.
Jon covers the latest PC components, as well as how-to guides on everything from how to take a screenshot to how to set up your cryptocurrency wallet. He particularly enjoys the battles between the top tech giants in CPUs and GPUs, and tries his best not to take sides.
Jon’s gaming PC is built around the iconic 7950X3D CPU, with a 7900XTX backing it up. That’s all the power he needs to play lightweight indie and casual games, as well as more demanding sim titles like Kerbal Space Program. He uses a pair of Jabra Active 8 earbuds and a SteelSeries Arctis Pro wireless headset, and types all day on a Logitech G915 mechanical keyboard.
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