Facts

In early 2001, plaintiffs Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. of Korea and its United States subsidiary, San Jose based Samsung Semiconductor Inc. agreed to price protect $30 million of DRAM computer memory components that the independent distributor Advanced MP Technology, San Clemente, purchased for redistribution. As the bottom fell out of the DRAM market, Advanced MP claimed that Samsung did not honor this agreement and refused to adjust prices to meet market conditions. Under the deal, Advanced MP agreed to stock huge quantities of hard to sell Samsung computer memory products, in exchange for a commitment from the manufacturer to keep lowering prices on the product as the market fell.