Samsung Electronics faces strike, Micron surpasses 900 billion.

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Samsung labor negotiations broke down, unexpectedly becoming the catalyst for Micron Technology’s market value to break historical thresholds.

On May 13 local time, negotiations between the Samsung Electronics union and management ended in failure, with more than 50,000 workers threatening to launch a full-scale strike for 18 days starting May 21. Following the news, Micron Technology’s share price rose 4.8% to $803.63 that day, with its market capitalization breaking $900 billion for the first time, reaching $906.28 billion and entering the top 12 largest companies by market value in the United States.

If the Samsung strike materializes, it is expected to impact about 3% of global memory chip production capacity, further tightening an already constrained supply situation. For Micron, this means a double benefit in demand and pricing—its chip products are already in short supply due to the wave of AI infrastructure investment, and the capacity loss of competitors will directly magnify this advantage.

Negotiations break down, strike imminent

According to Reuters on the 13th, Samsung union representative Choi Seung-ho told reporters outside the Seoul negotiation room: “None of the issues raised by the union received any response, for which I am deeply regretful.” He also stated that there are currently no plans to resume negotiations before the strike, but if the company proposes “an official plan,” he is willing to consider it.

The negotiations, mediated by the South Korean government, lasted two days and still ended in failure. The core disagreement between labor and management centered on the bonus allocation plan: the union demanded that 15% of operating profit be used for bonuses with the cap lifted, while Samsung offered only a 10% plan, with a wide gap between both sides. Samsung said it will continue to work to prevent the strike, and the union is seeking to clear legal barriers to launch the strike.

If the strike occurs as scheduled from May 21 to June 7, more than 50,000 people will participate. Investors are closely watching developments, as any production interruption could affect the global semiconductor supply chain.

Supply gap widens, Micron directly benefits

The memory chip market is already experiencing a historic supply shortage, with explosive growth in AI data centers making memory chips the bottleneck in the entire industry chain. Micron is the world’s third largest memory chip manufacturer, with a market share second only to Samsung and SK Hynix.

According to estimates from Jefferies, the Samsung strike could affect about 3% of global memory chip production capacity. Once Samsung’s output is impacted, customer orders will accelerate their shift to Micron, and coupled with expectations for further chip price increases, Micron’s revenue outlook will be significantly improved.

SK Hynix also benefited from market sentiment, with its stock price rising 7.7% in the local South Korean market that day. Sandisk, which competes with Samsung in the NAND flash chip sector, saw a slight decrease of 0.3% to $1440.

Market cap jumps, approaching the U.S. top ten

This share price rally brought Micron’s market value above $900 billion for the first time, leaving only about $50 billion between it and Eli Lilly, which is ranked 11th. The current top ten U.S. companies by market value are: Nvidia, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Broadcom, Tesla, Meta, Berkshire Hathaway, and Walmart.

Over the past 12 months, Micron’s share price has increased more than eight-fold, with AI-driven memory demand expansion as the core logic. Samsung’s labor crisis has further fueled this upward trend and kept the market highly attentive to a reshuffling of the memory chip supply landscape.

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