Seoul, South Korea
CNN
—
A labor union representing tens of 1000’s of staff at Samsung Electronics in South Korea went on strike on Friday, marking the primary such walkout within the smartphone and chipmaking large’s 55-year historical past.
The Nationwide Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) mentioned last week that its 28,000 members — slightly below 1 / 4 of the corporate’s whole workforce within the nation — would stage a strike on June 7, following failed negotiations over pay and bonus preparations.
The union requested its members to take a break day on Friday, which falls between a public vacation on Thursday and the weekend.
Son Woomok, a union chief, informed CNN that “many staff used their annual depart right this moment,” and at one web site “all staff had taken depart so substitute personnel have been deployed.” He didn’t present different particulars.
He had beforehand mentioned many NSEU members work for Samsung’s flagship semiconductor unit. That division is attempting to regain its former standing as a prime semiconductor firm, in accordance with Reuters, which says Samsung has fallen behind its rivals SK Hynix and Micron Know-how in delivering chips utilized in synthetic intelligence (AI) processors.
A Samsung spokesperson informed CNN that, “there is no such thing as a impression on manufacturing and administration actions” on account of the one-day strike.
“Right now’s annual depart use charge is decrease than final yr’s Memorial Day vacation’s annual depart use charge,” the spokesperson added.
The world’s greatest reminiscence chipmaker has had a tough few years. A historic shortage of laptop chips in the course of the Covid pandemic was adopted by falling demand final yr as shopper urge for food for electronics remained weak due to international financial uncertainty.
However issues are wanting up for the corporate due to the AI growth.
It’s optimistic a couple of resurgence in demand for cellular gadgets this yr, significantly with the rollout of latest merchandise, akin to AI-powered smartphones.
Final month, Samsung reported a greater than tenfold rise in first-quarter working revenue amid forecasts of excessive demand for AI and high-end chips, an space by which it competes with Intel (INTC) and Taiwan’s TSMC.
The overwhelming majority of the world’s superior microchips are made in simply two locations: Taiwan and South Korea. Taiwan’s trade is bigger and extra dominant, one thing South Korea is eager to problem.