According to news on May 14, salary negotiations between Samsung Electronics and its largest union broke down completely on May 13.The world's largest memory chip factory is facing the risk of paralysis, and the memory spot market immediately experienced violent fluctuations. Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen, China, has become the area with the most obvious price increases in the world, with DDR4 particles rising by 20% in a single week.
The breakdown in negotiations ended the memory market's downward trend in recent weeks. According to the latest quotation from China Flash Memory Market Network (CFM),The spot price of consumer-grade DDR4 8GB 3200 has risen to US$18 this week, a 20% increase in a single week.The NAND Flash wafer market has stopped falling at the same time, and the prices of all mainstream specifications such as 1Tb QLC, 1Tb TLC, and 512Gb TLC have become flat. The previous sustained price downward pressure has been significantly relieved.
The server memory market is gaining even more momentum.The demand for superimposed AI servers continues to be strong. The price of DDR5 RDIMM 64GB has climbed to US$1,350, a monthly increase of 11%; the 96GB specification has increased by 10% simultaneously, becoming another major force in this round of price increases.
The National Labor Relations Board of South Korea has terminated this mediation process. The committee admitted that the differences between labor and management were too great, and the union took the initiative to request a suspension of negotiations.
The mediation lasted for two days and a total of 17 hours. Union representative Cui Chenghao said,Waited for 16 out of 17 hours. The employer continued to extend the negotiation time without making any substantive changes to the proposal. He believes that Samsung’s move is to weaken the momentum of the strike.
The core disagreement between the two sides centers on the bonus system.The union demands that the bonus cap of 50% of basic salary be abolished and 15% of the company's annual operating profit be used for performance payments. Samsung only proposed a one-time subsidy in 2026 and refused to permanently adjust the bonus calculation rules. Samsung expressed regret over the breakdown in talks and said it would continue to seek dialogue.
The union has made it clear that it will not consider further negotiations before an 18-day general strike scheduled for May 21. Currently, Samsung's labor union has more than 90,000 members, accounting for more than 70% of the company's total employees in South Korea. This number has increased significantly from 73,000 at the beginning of this month and 32,000 at the time of the first strike in 2024. Among them, 41,000 members have made it clear that they will participate in the strike, and the final number of participants may exceed 50,000.
The one-day strike on April 23 has caused the output of Samsung's memory factories to drop by 18%, and the output of wafer foundries has plummeted by 58%. The industry estimates that after the 18-day general strike, it may take up to 36 days to resume normal production. High-performance server DRAM and enterprise-grade SSD will be hardest hit.
Estimates of losses vary widely. JPMorgan Chase estimates that the 18-day shutdown will cost Samsung more than 4 trillion won in direct revenue losses, accounting for about 1% of its semiconductor division’s annual sales. Song Xianjae, a professor at Seoul City University, estimates that the factory shutdown will cause losses of about US$700 million per day. The union itself estimates that total losses could reach up to 30 trillion won.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has convened an emergency ministerial meeting. He instructed relevant units to closely monitor the situation, emphasizing that the matter may have a major impact on the national economy. The semiconductor industry accounted for 37% of South Korea's total exports in April.
South Korea’s Minister of Labor stated that the dispute should be resolved through dialogue and that no emergency arbitration order has been initiated yet. This mechanism can force a strike to be frozen for 30 days to continue mediation, and was rarely used in the past.