Samsung workers strike won’t create semiconductor hurdles: TrendForce

Unionized workers at Samsung declared the strike over the failure of wage negotiations. It was previously assumed to impact the semiconductor supply chain. TrendForce reports that the strike at Samsung Electronics won’t affect its semiconductor business.

On May 29, the largest labor union at Samsung declared a strike. The intention is to take group action through a collective annual leave on June 7th. Approx 28,000 employees are estimated to take part in the strike, accounting for about 20% of Samsung’s total employees.

TrendForce says that this strike won’t impact DRAM and NAND Flash production, nor will it cause any shipment shortages. The spot prices for DRAM and NAND Flash had been declining before the strike announcement, and there has been no change in this downtrend since the announcement.

4 reasons why this strike will not impact production

• Firstly, the strike involves employees at Samsung’s headquarters in Seocho, Seoul, where union participation in higher, but these employees do not directly engage in production.
• Secondly, this strike is planned for only one day, which falls within the flexible scheduling range for production.
• Thirdly, June 6 is a public holiday in South Korea, and some employees had already applied for leave on June 7, allowing for preemptive adjustments in production scheduling and manpower allocation.
• Finally, fabs rely heavily on automated production and require minimal human labor. Therefore, the strike will not have any substantial impact on the future memory supply.