All-night negotiations have failed, and Samsung Electronics faces an 18-day strike starting from May 21.

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Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer, is standing on the verge of a massive strike.

At around 3 a.m. local time on May 13, in Seoul, Samsung Electronics union representative Choi Seung-ho exited the negotiation room and announced to reporters: the talks had failed.

According to Reuters, Choi Seung-ho said: “None of the issues raised by the union received any response, which I deeply regret.” He also stated there were no plans to resume negotiations before the strike, but if the company put forward “a formal proposal,” he would be willing to consider it.

The negotiation, mediated by the South Korean government, lasted two days but ended in failure. The union immediately reiterated: if their demands are not met, more than 50,000 workers will launch an 18-day full strike starting May 21. Investors are closely watching developments, as any production disruption may impact the global semiconductor supply chain.

Where is the disagreement: Bonus cap is the core conflict

This labor confrontation is fundamentally a dispute over “how to distribute the AI windfall.”

Samsung workers’ bonuses currently have an upper limit—not exceeding 50% of their annual base salary. The union is demanding a complete removal of this cap, and for 15% of operating profit to go directly towards employee bonuses, with the relevant terms written into the labor contract.

Samsung’s response: offering 10% of operating profit as a bonus, plus a one-time special compensation, claiming it “exceeds industry standards.” Company executives believe that the union’s demands are “unsustainable in the long term.”

The gap between the two sides, in the view of the Korea National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), has become “too wide.” NLRC said in a statement that it suspended the talks per the union’s request, but remains ready to provide further mediation support when both parties apply jointly.

Why are workers so angry: Benchmarked against SK Hynix, the gap is too big

Samsung workers’ discontent has a specific reference—their competitor SK Hynix.

According to Reuters, SK Hynix abolished its bonus cap last year, resulting in its employees receiving bonuses more than three times those of Samsung’s employees. This news directly prompted a surge in Samsung union membership.

The logic behind it: SK Hynix leveraged its high-bandwidth memory (HBM) products to successfully enter Nvidia’s supply chain, gaining an edge in the AI chip boom, and their employees shared more profit as a result. Meanwhile, Samsung is lagging in HBM, but still benefiting from AI-driven chip demand—last week, Samsung’s market value surpassed $1 trillion, becoming the second Asian company after TSMC to reach this milestone.

Employees’ logic is simple: The company makes so much money, why can’t we get our share?

The cost of strike: Supply chain, chip prices, competitive landscape

If the strike becomes reality, the impact extends beyond Samsung itself.

According to Bloomberg, the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea issued a statement this week: “Any significant production disruption or operational uncertainty at Samsung Electronics may add extra pressure to the global memory semiconductor market, leading to exacerbated supply bottlenecks, price fluctuations, procurement uncertainty, and wider supply chain instability.”

The strike could lead to shipment delays for customers, further increases in chip prices, and benefit competitors such as Micron and SK Hynix.

Samsung Board Chairman Shin Je-yoon warned that the strike would harm investor and employee interests, and cause serious consequences for Korea’s economy. He said, “Worried about client attrition and loss of competitiveness due to strike-induced production disruption, which may result in losing market leadership.”

The court as the final variable: May 20 is the key node

Whether the strike proceeds as scheduled and at what scale remains uncertain—awaiting the court's ruling.

According to Bloomberg, the Suwon District Court is set to hold a second hearing on Samsung’s injunction request this Wednesday (May 14). Samsung’s injunction seeks to ban workers from occupying key facilities and requires staff in critical safety positions to stay on duty to prevent equipment damage.

The court is expected to rule before May 20—just one day ahead of the planned start of the strike.

This means that even if the strike commences as scheduled, its actual scale and impact may change depending on the court's decision.

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