Samsung consumer-device workers to rally as chip boom widens pay divide

About 3,000 workers from Samsung Electronics' consumer-device division are set to rally in Seoul on Friday to demand additional compensation, as the AI-driven memory chip boom widens the pay gap with the semiconductor business. The Donghaeng union, representing the Device eXperience division, is demanding about 1,000 Samsung Electronics shares per employee and reopening the 2026 wage agreement, after the chip division posted 89.2 trillion won ($64.3 billion) in operating profit for the April-June period while DX recorded an 800 billion won operating loss.

About 3,000 expected to attend as union demands 1,000 shares per employee A Samsung Electronics union representing mainly workers in the company’s consumer-device business is set to rally in Seoul on Friday afternoon over a widening compensation gap with its semiconductor division, as the AI-driven memory boom delivers record chip profits while raising costs for smartphones, TVs and appliances. The Donghaeng union, whose membership is concentrated in Samsung’s Device eXperience, or DX, division, plans to hold the rally at 3 p.m. near the company’s Seocho offices in southern Seoul. About 3,000 people are expected to attend, according to industry reports. DX covers Samsung’s smartphones, TVs and home appliances, while the Device Solutions, or DS, division houses its semiconductor business. Donghaeng says DX employees have been left behind in this year’s wage and bonus arrangements. It is demanding additional compensation of about 1,000 Samsung Electronics shares per employee and wants the 2026 wage agreement reopened. Friday’s rally follows a July 16 protest at Samsung’s Suwon campus over many of the same demands. The financial backdrop has since become more pronounced. DS posted 89.2 trillion won $64.3 billion in operating profit for the April-June period, while DX recorded an operating loss of 800 billion won, its first quarterly loss since the current division was formed in 2021. Higher memory prices are central to that split. Strong AI-related demand has lifted earnings at Samsung’s chip business, while more expensive memory has raised input costs for DX products. Samsung cited higher component costs as one reason for weaker DX profitability in the quarter. Samsung Electronics co-CEO and DX chief Roh Tae-moon reaffirmed the company’s performance-based compensation principle at an employee briefing Wednesday, according to industry reports. He also stressed that DS and DX have long managed their profits and compensation pools separately. Supporters of the system argue that separating the businesses has helped Samsung protect the interests of outside chip customers while holding each division accountable for its own results. “Separating DS and DX helped Samsung build trust with component customers,” an industry official said, arguing that sharing bonus pools across divisions would weaken the link between performance and compensation. DX employees see the issue differently. A union official said the consumer-device businesses had generated earnings that supported Samsung’s semiconductor investment during weaker chip cycles, making the current gap in rewards harder for workers to accept. “Samsung grew with DX as one of its main pillars,” the official said. “There is a strong sense that earnings from DX helped finance investment in semiconductors.” The divide is also shaping next year’s wage talks. On Thursday, Samsung Group’s enterprise union, whose membership is concentrated in DS, told Donghaeng it would not form a joint bargaining group for 2027 negotiations and suggested the DX-heavy union consider seeking a separate bargaining unit. mjh@heraldcorp.com