Shares of Samsung SDI surged 4.2% to KRW 669,000 on May 27, extending a remarkable rally from KRW 570,000 just a week earlier, even as labor tensions across Samsung's constellation of affiliates intensified over what workers call a fundamentally unfair bonus system. Samsung SDI Got Zero Bonuses While the Parent Paid Chip Workers $400,000 Each — Will the Backlash Change Its Cost Structure?
Shares of Samsung SDI jumped 4.2% to KRW 669,000 on May 27, capping a 17.4% surge from KRW 570,000 in just six trading sessions. The rally comes as a bitter compensation fight inside the Samsung empire threatens to redraw the cost math for every affiliate in the group — including the battery maker that received nothing in performance bonuses last year.
• Samsung Electronics' Record Deal Lit the Fuse. Samsung Electronics reached a tentative wage deal on May 20, hours before 48,000 workers were set to begin an 18-day general strike.
The company agreed to distribute 10.5% of its semiconductor division's operating profit as stock-based bonuses, plus another 1.5% in cash.
Memory-division employees stand to receive roughly KRW 600 million (~$434,000) each this year. That lavish payout — locked in for a decade — immediately made compensation at every other Samsung affiliate look meager by comparison.
• SDI Workers Got Nothing and Are Watching Losing Divisions Get Paid. Samsung SDI posted zero performance bonuses last year after a slump in electric-vehicle demand hit results. The sting worsened when it emerged that Samsung Electronics' loss-making non-memory units would still receive 40% of the chip division's bonus pool — at least KRW 160 million (~$116,000) per worker.
Frustration has grown so intense that affiliate employees now circulate the self-deprecating label "Samsung huja" — meaning second-tier.
• The Wage Gap Could Force SDI Into Costlier Labor Deals. SDI's 2026 wage increase was set at just 4.0%, the lowest among major affiliates — and affiliates still calculate bonuses using an older, less generous formula.
Because Samsung Electronics' personnel and compensation systems are typically extended to affiliates after a lag, industry officials warn affiliate unions will be hard to restrain. If SDI's union pushes to match the parent's formula, labor costs could jump materially at a company already squeezed by soft EV demand.
• The Stock's Rally May Reflect Broader Sector Momentum, Not the Labor Story. SDI's sharp rebound coincides with a wider semiconductor and battery-supply-chain rally following Nvidia's blowout quarter. Samsung Electronics' own post-deal gains were also fueled by Nvidia reporting revenue surging 85% to $81.62 billion. Investors should parse how much of SDI's move is sympathy buying versus genuine repricing of its fundamentals — because the labor overhang adds cost risk that the stock price has yet to discount.