Labor Unrest At Samsung May Worsen Memory Chip Supply Issues

Tens of thousands of Samsung Electronics workers held a rally astatine nan company’s Pyeongtaek field successful South Korea connected Thursday to awesome they are prepared to locomotion disconnected nan occupation for an 18-day onslaught adjacent month. The dispute, astatine its core, is complete money.

The workers’ national wants Samsung to scrap its capacity prize headdress and redirect 15% of its operating profit straight to its workers. Samsung has not agreed, and talks person stalled. Meanwhile, nan electronics elephantine is fighting nan national some successful tribunal and astatine nan negotiating table.

Rival chipmaker SK Hynix is reportedly expected to salary mean bonuses of astir $400,000 per personification to its 35,000 labor early adjacent year. Samsung has offered labor successful its representation spot section compensation exceeding that of its rivals — an connection nan national has truthful acold rejected, according to local media reports.

A Samsung spokesperson did not respond to a petition for remark up of publication. Samsung has agelong been South Korea’s astir coveted employer. The prize spread pinch SK Hynix is putting unit connected that advantage.

Not everyone astatine nan rally was connected nan union’s side. Shareholders besides gathered straight crossed nan street, accusing workers of undermining nan institution astatine a important juncture.

The timing is bad for Samsung. The AI roar is creating a spot shortage, pinch nan world’s apical 3 representation spot manufacturers, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron racing to meet request from AI information centers. The companies person redirected resources distant from their user businesses to make high-bandwidth representation chips for AI uses, arsenic they bid acold higher margins.

AI information centers now devour an estimated 70% of high-end representation chips produced worldwide, leaving consumers to conflict complete what’s left. The prices of accepted representation chips, for illustration DRAM, person skyrocketed since early 2025.

If Samsung Electronics’ much than 35,000 workers spell connected onslaught adjacent month, nan ripples would beryllium felt each nan measurement successful Silicon Valley, arsenic it whitethorn compound nan ongoing representation spot shortage.