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Samsung and a major workers’ union are in last-ditch, government-mediated talks to head off an 18-day strike at the Hwaseong semiconductor plant that could disrupt high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production and cost the company as much as $20 billion. The talks involve Samsung Electronics management, union leaders and South Korean officials aiming to resolve pay and labor disputes before a planned walkout. A prolonged stoppage at Samsung’s HBM lines would ripple across data center, AI and GPU supply
A strike at Samsung's Hwaseong fab could halt HBM and other memory output, disrupting AI, data center and GPU supply chains and causing major revenue and price volatility for tech firms and suppliers.
Dossier last updated: 2026-05-13 00:29:48
Samsung's labor talks with its South Korea-based union collapsed, and union leaders say more than 50,000 workers plan an 18-day strike starting May 21 that could disrupt AI and other chip production. Negotiations mediated by the Korean government failed after the company declined demands to reform the bonus system, including removing a cap that limits bonuses to 50% of base pay and ties payouts to operating profit. The union cites pay disparities with SK Hynix—whose removal of a bonus cap and role in supplying HBM for NVIDIA-led AI workloads boosted payouts—as a key grievance. The strike risks delayed shipments, higher chip prices, and potential competitive shifts in the memory market.
Samsung’s Lee family now holds the top four spots on South Korea’s billionaire list as AI-driven demand for memory chips sends Samsung Electronics’ stock surging. Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s net worth jumped to $34 billion after Samsung’s share price rose about 40% in a month and fourfold over the past year, driven by booming HBM and NAND sales feeding AI datacenter workloads and major customers like NVIDIA. Samsung’s market value topped $1 trillion and its chip business posted record quarterly revenue and profit, with Barclays forecasting HBM revenue could triple this year amid persistent supply tightness through 2027. The family’s wealth stems largely from Samsung Electronics stock, cementing the group’s dominance in AI memory supply chains.
South Korean customs data show dramatic price jumps for memory chips in the month ending May 10, 2026: DRAM chip prices rose 497.4% year-on-year to $89,498/kg (up 20.9% month-on-month), while NAND flash hit $67,307/kg, up 351.6% YoY and 63.1% MoM. HBM-class MCPs climbed 165.5% YoY to $78,752/kg, and the overall memory category rose 326.3% YoY. DRAM module prices fell 13.9% MoM but remain up 351.2% YoY, indicating a disconnect between upstream die prices and downstream module/consumer product pricing. Manufacturers including Samsung, SK hynix, Micron and Kioxia are prioritizing AI-focused, higher-margin memory (HBM, server DRAM, enterprise NAND), which tightens supply for consumer segments even as consumer SSD spot prices show declines amid PC demand weakness.
Samsung and a major workers’ union are in last-ditch, government-mediated talks to head off an 18-day strike at the Hwaseong semiconductor plant that could disrupt high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production and cost the company as much as $20 billion. The talks involve Samsung Electronics management, union leaders and South Korean officials aiming to resolve pay and labor disputes before a planned walkout. A prolonged stoppage at Samsung’s HBM lines would ripple across data center, AI and GPU supply chains, tightening memory supply for AI training and high-performance computing. The outcome matters for chipmakers, cloud providers and AI companies reliant on HBM and could influence sector-wide manufacturing risk assessments.