Overview
- Union leaders set a May 21–June 7 strike over performance pay, after talks stalled and as Samsung sought a court injunction on April 16 to block action.
- Following Thursday’s mass rally at the Pyeongtaek complex on April 23, union tallies showed output falling 18.4% at memory fabs and 58.1% at foundry lines during the overnight shift.
- Market models project a 2–4% dip in DRAM and a 2–3% dip in NAND if the stoppage proceeds, with recovery taking 2–3 weeks and some scenarios warning of a 36‑day production blackout.
- Economists and industry analysts warn of losses that could reach the tens of trillions of won and say even brief disruption could push customers like Nvidia and AMD to diversify suppliers.
- Workers seek to scrap the 50% cap on bonuses and to earmark 15% of operating profit for payouts, pressing their case as SK hynix’s richer bonuses draw talent and as Samsung posts record profits.