>Why would they need to coordinate to keep the price from dropping during a spike in demand?

They wouldn't you're right.

But I would expect for them to follow the sorts of behavior we've observed in other markets - egg prices, gasoline prices. When a spike occurs, even if as brief as a lightning strike, they will only very slowly drop prices, when in a purely capitalistic world the price drop ought to be equally fast - suggestive that the slow drop is a mutual agreed upon collusion. After all, it's in all sellers best interest to game that "consumers temporarily agreeable to scalping prices" as hard as possible, Nash equilibrium or whatever amongst sellers. Many such cases and more vicious and brutal punishments for such behavior would serve to benefit the common man, the final point and benefit of capitalism

Yes, the industry is capacity limited so if there's a true spike in demand, prices will be high even absent any collusion. Especially if previous investment in expanding capacity has been lacking for many years.

To keep someone from undercutting others’ prices and causing a competitive pricing war.

Realistically, it wouldn’t be a meaningful drop to the consumer. But it’ll affect some executive’s ability to buy another unnecessary trinket.

Said industry's cartel behavior is already a matter of historical fact, so they do not earn any benefit of the doubt being afforded them.

Was in the room working for a hardware company during the offshoring phase of high tech manufacturing

Offshoring was 100% because of antitrust concerns. Copyright landlords and hardware manufacturers were concerned with Americans and their morals also having the skills to create endless competition.

American workers compensation prize was endless hustle jobs to distract them from political revolution.

The olds don't care if the kids end up unskilled knowledge serfs, fuzzy VHS tapes of outdated academics. The olds will be dead.