The crisis in the DRAM market has led to a significant increase in profits for memory manufacturers, including Samsung Semiconductor. In the first quarter of 2026, Samsung's profit in this segment soared by 4,800%. However, employees are seeing limited benefits from this growth, as bonus payouts are capped at 50% of their usual annual income.

The labor union is demanding that Samsung allocate 15% of its operating profit to a bonus fund and remove the existing cap on bonus payments. An 18-day strike is planned from May 21 to June 7, with more than 50,000 employees expected to participate. Estimates suggest that each day of halted production could result in losses of up to 3 trillion won (about 2 billion dollars). Production will be suspended for longer than three weeks, as preparations for the strike require operations to stop nearly a week before it begins, and restoring full capacity could take another two to three weeks. The total losses from the strike are estimated at up to 100 trillion won (approximately 66.7 billion dollars).

The production stoppage could further worsen the DRAM market crisis, as global output of DRAM and NAND will be significantly reduced for several weeks.