--- title: "18-Day Strike Countdown at Samsung! Panic Buying by Buyers May Push Up Memory Prices" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/286720076.md" description: "The union at Samsung Electronics plans to launch an 18-day strike on May 21, with a core demand for a 15% profit-sharing bonus. Although the court has issued an injunction to protect production output and wafer fabs are highly automated, Morgan Stanley believes that labor-intensive backend packaging remains vulnerable to disruption. As the strike period overlaps with the third-quarter memory negotiation window, it may trigger preventive stockpiling by major manufacturers. Spot prices for DRAM and NAND, which had previously softened, have already stabilized and rebounded" datetime: "2026-05-18T06:49:59.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/286720076.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/286720076.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/286720076.md) --- # 18-Day Strike Countdown at Samsung! Panic Buying by Buyers May Push Up Memory Prices As the world's largest supplier of DRAM and NAND, Samsung Electronics is seeing its labor-management crisis intensify, bringing new upward price risks to the memory chip market. The union plans to launch an 18-day strike starting May 21. Analysts warn that this threat could trigger panic buying by OEMs and large tech companies, pushing up memory pricing during the key window for third-quarter contract price negotiations. On May 18, a South Korean court ruled to **approve part of Samsung Electronics' injunction application, requiring that the union's strike actions must not affect production output; if the union fails to comply with the court order, it will face fines of approximately 100 million won per day.** On the same day, Samsung Electronics and the union initiated a new round of salary negotiations under government mediation, with the union's core demand being a special bonus equivalent to 15% of the company's operating profit. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung called on both labor and management to pool their wisdom, abandon unilateral interests, and seek cooperation. The news triggered intense volatility in the South Korean capital market—the KOSPI and KOSPI200 indices both fell more than 4% in early trading. Following the court's "warning order," the broader South Korean stock market staged a V-shaped reversal, with chip stocks such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also reversing course. The event also impacted global investor sentiment toward technology stocks, including chips. According to Zhuifeng Trading Desk, a report released by Bank of America Global Research on May 16 stated that the actual impact of the Samsung strike on global memory supply might be relatively limited. **However, the effect of preventive stockpiling could become a more direct catalyst for rising prices—spot prices for DRAM and NAND have already seen a slight rebound this week from their previous softening trend.** ## Limited Impact on Production Lines, But Risks in Backend Packaging Cannot Be Ignored The strike planned by Samsung's South Korean union is scheduled to take place from May 21 to June 7, lasting 18 days, triggered by the failure to reach an agreement on the special bonus (equivalent to 15% of the company's operating profit). Notably, the strike window heavily overlaps with the negotiation cycle for third-quarter memory contract prices (typically conducted in June), making the market particularly sensitive to price trends. Bank of America Securities Research believes that Samsung's memory wafer fab production relies heavily on factory automation, with limited operators in clean rooms, making a complete shutdown unlikely. **Therefore, the theoretical impact of the 18-day strike is relatively controllable.** However, the labor-intensive backend packaging area may face more direct impacts. The report also warns that **it usually takes at least several months for wafer fabs to resume normal operations after a complete shutdown,** which is a structural risk that cannot be ignored when assessing potential supply shocks. ## Stockpiling Effect: Spot Prices Respond First Bank of America Securities believes that the impact of this strike on memory prices may mainly stem from preventive stocking behavior on the demand side. The report points out that **some OEMs and large tech companies may rush to buy Samsung memory chips in advance to meet needs for the traditional peak season from September to October, thereby pushing up spot market prices.** The high sensitivity of timing is also reflected in contract pricing. Third-quarter memory contract prices are typically negotiated and determined in June, heavily overlapping with the current strike period. Bank of America Securities expects this to provide positive support for contract pricing among memory chip manufacturers. Preliminary price signals have already emerged in the market. According to DRAMeXchange data, spot prices for DRAM and NAND stabilized and rebounded this week from the continuous softening seen in April and early May: the spot price for 16Gb DDR5 was quoted at $40.7, up 2% for the week; 4Gb DDR4 rose 5% for the week; and the spot price for 1Tb NAND wafers rose 1% for the week, with a cumulative year-on-year increase of as high as 386%. 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