Samsung Strike Confirmed for May. What Impact Will It Have on the Semiconductor Industry?

TradingKey - According to reports from Yonhap News Agency, the Samsung Electronics labor union announced on the 18th that a vote on collective industrial action passed with a 93.1% approval rate, leading the union to schedule a general strike for May.

It is reported that 66,019 out of approximately 90,000 members across Samsung Electronics' three major unions participated in the vote, representing a high turnout of 73.5%, with 61,456 members voting in favor.

The union plans to hold a rally on April 23, demanding that management ensure transparency in performance bonus criteria, abolish the performance bonus cap, and increase wages by 7%, continuing the campaign until the general strike in May. If the strike proceeds, it will be the second in the company's history and the first in two years since July 2024.

What are the potential impacts of a Samsung strike?

From the perspective of market share, a production halt could tighten chip supply or exert pressure on global supply chains.

Samsung's market share in the fourth quarter of 2025 rose slightly from 6.8% to 7.1%, second only to TSMC, while TSMC (TSM) 's market share reached 70.4%. This means that if a strike disrupts Samsung's production, it will force some orders to migrate to TSMC and other manufacturers.

Previously, Samsung Group executives stated that even a single production disruption caused by a strike could damage customer trust—a sensitive issue that could take years to recover. Given that Samsung's first strike already triggered a trust crisis with partners, a second strike could further exacerbate these concerns.

As partners seek new suppliers, this transition is not expected to be entirely seamless.

On one hand, advanced node capacity has long been tight, making it difficult for foundries like TSMC to fully accommodate new orders in the short term. On the other hand, differences in process nodes, design adaptation, and customer validation cycles mean that migrating orders involves significant friction costs and time lags. This will result in a periodic "supply mismatch," where existing demand cannot be immediately met by effective capacity.

In this context, two key changes will occur in the industry chain:

First is the passive destocking of inventory. Downstream manufacturers may stockpile in advance, further exacerbating short-term global supply tightness.

Additionally, bargaining power will concentrate upstream. Particularly in the memory chip sector, a supply contraction will directly lead to higher spot and contract prices.

This will strengthen the product pricing power of chipmakers such as Micron (MU.US) , SanDisk (SNDK.US) , and SK Hynix. From this perspective, it serves as a tailwind for the chip sector in both the short and long term.