South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday, June 29, announced an 800 trillion won ($520 billion) public-private investment plan alongside Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to expand the country's chipmaking capacity, a move the government framed as essential to keeping South Korea competitive in the global artificial intelligence race. Lee unveiled the plan in a televised state address at his office in Seoul, flanked by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, the leaders of the world's two largest memory chipmakers.

"Right now is truly a decisive moment, as the landscape of the global economy is being reshaped," Lee said in televised remarks. "Major countries, including the U.S. and China, are engaged in all-out competition with massive stakes." He added that only through cooperation between the private and public sectors could South Korea hope to triumph. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said the plan would let the country rapidly expand production by sharply shortening the timeline from licensing to construction.

The centerpiece of the partnership is the construction of four production facilities, with Samsung and SK Hynix each building two. According to the government, the new plants will be built in the southwestern part of the country, near the city of Gwangju, a mostly rural area far from the existing semiconductor base south of Seoul, where both companies operate major clusters. Samsung will also build packaging facilities for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips in Chungcheong as demand for the advanced components soars.

"HBM, which is indispensable for the training and inference of AI models, requires cutting-edge technology for stacking semiconductor chips," the Samsung chairman said. "We will focus our investment on HBM fabs, which require main-fab-level processes, alongside existing semiconductor back-end fabs in the Chungcheong region, including Cheonan and Onyang."

One detail the government did not provide was the split between public and private money, as the project is a combined public-private commitment rather than a government spending program. While it is not immediately clear how much of the 800 trillion won would come from the state versus the two chipmakers, the disclosed line items are comparatively modest.

Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said the government and industry would jointly invest more than 30 trillion won over 15 years across the semiconductor value chain, while President Lee said Gwangju and South Jeolla province would contribute a further 5 trillion to 20 trillion won. Kim put another 81 trillion won toward the Chungcheong packaging hub, though he did not say how much of that is public.

The balance of the headline number is widely expected to be company capital expenditure, with the state's role concentrated in subsidies, faster permitting, and infrastructure. Kim said the government would streamline approvals and bring fab construction forward by up to 12 years, from the mid-2040s to the mid-2030s.

The plan also absorbs and accelerates projects already underway. The government said it would help Samsung and SK Hynix speed up construction of their existing capital-region clusters, with SK Group pulling forward the ramp of its Yongin memory site from 2045 to 2033, part of a stated goal to double the country's memory output within five years. SK Hynix supplies the bulk of the HBM that Nvidia depends on for its AI accelerators, the very strain this expansion is meant to relieve. While semiconductors are the focus of the investment, with the priority being a decisive lead in memory chips, the companies will also work on AI robots, physical AI, and AI data centers.

The investment partnership appears to be the latest piece of a broader strategy. SK Hynix had already committed $15 billion to new semiconductor facilities in February, a figure that now reads as an early piece of the larger national framework. Earlier iterations of the country's cluster plan had pegged long-term investment at around $471 billion, stretching to 2047, so the new figure represents a substantial expansion as AI demand projections have climbed. The fabs are targeted for completion in the mid-2030s.

The announcement caps an extraordinary stretch for both firms. SK Hynix overtook Samsung in June to become South Korea's most valuable listed company for the first time in more than 25 years, lifted by its commanding lead in HBM, while Samsung's chip division alone booked 53.7 trillion won in first-quarter operating profit as AI-driven memory shortages are expected to strain the companies' capacity past 2027.

The scale of the investments also invites inevitable comparison. At roughly $520 billion, South Korea’s plan dwarfs the United States' CHIPS Act, which provided about $52 billion in direct subsidies, by a factor of ten. Although the comparison is imperfect, since the U.S. figure is a government subsidy while the Korean number appears to be mostly private investment that the state is coordinating.

The strategic logic is the same on both sides of the Pacific: secure domestic capacity for the chips that underpin AI, at a moment when the U.S., China, Japan and the EU are all pursuing their own semiconductor industrial strategies. For Seoul, the specific prize is memory, the segment where its two companies already hold a commanding global position, with the goal being to extend that lead rather than merely defend it.

Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron were sued on June 25th in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, where 17 plaintiffs accuse the three memory makers of illegally coordinating to restrict DRAM supply and inflate prices that the complaint says have risen roughly 700% over four years. The class action, filed as Garciaguirre v. Samsung Electronics and assigned to Judge Noel Wise, invokes Section 1 of the Sherman Act and targets companies that together hold around 90% of the global DRAM market. Samsung and SK hynix have pleaded guilty to criminal DRAM price fixing once before, with the latter paying a $185 million fine in April 2005.

The complaint argues that the three companies used a coordinated shift toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the stacked DRAM that feeds AI accelerators, as a cover to curtail production of older DDR3 and DDR4 modules. That contraction in commodity DRAM, the plaintiffs argue, pushed prices to record highs while no rival could step in: building a new DRAM fab costs tens of billions and takes years, leaving the incumbents free to cut output without fear of being undercut.

The named plaintiffs include 14 individuals and three small PC businesses, among them Troy's Computers and Florida repair outfit My Florida PC, and they cite Apple's recent iPad and Mac price increases as evidence of the squeeze. They’re seeking class status, an injunction, and treble damages as a result.

However, this case revisits a precedent that was already established in the same courthouse. A 2018 class action brought by law firm Hagens Berman made similar claims about parallel production cuts, and the district court dismissed it in 2020. The Ninth Circuit upheld that dismissal in 2022, ruling the trio's conduct was “more likely explained by lawful, unchoreographed free-market behavior” than by an illegal agreement.

It was held at the time that the plaintiffs’ eight “plus factors” didn’t clear Section 1’s threshold, which demands evidence of an actual agreement rather than the conscious parallelism common in a three-supplier market. The new complaint leans on the pivot to HBM as the additional evidence that this earlier lawsuit lacked.

The three memory makers have publicly stated they’re operating independently while redirecting capacity to HBM, and senior executives have warned the shortage could run for years. Investment bank Jefferies expects DRAM prices to rise another 40% to 50% in the third quarter and a further 30% to 40% in the fourth, with no meaningful relief before 2028. The allegations remain unproven, and the defendants have not yet responded in court.

We're keeping a close eye on all the best SSD discounts and keeping a constantly updated list here. Buying SSDs is not as cheap as it used to be, but there are still savings to be had, especially on newer drives.

External factors, such as tariffs and geopolitical issues, along with chip shortages, are pushing prices upward. In fact, it appears that shortages driven by AI data centers could persist for several years. That means prices will go up significantly in the foreseeable future. Luckily, for now, there are discounts available on some SSD models.

As always, you'll need to stay alert when you're choosing SSDs, as not every drive is born equal and worthy of your money or a place of honor in your PC or PS5. We're constantly combing through the best deals across multiple retailers, selecting the best of them based on the in-depth knowledge we've gained from our thorough reviews, extensive benchmarks, and comprehensive historical price analysis.

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• SATA or NVMe: SSDs either use the SATA or NVMe interface, with the latter being as much as six times faster (or more). All 2.5-inch drives are SATA, but M.2 drives could be either NVMe or SATA interface, though the latter is now rare. If you have a desktop or laptop that was built in the last 5 years, it almost certainly supports NVMe, which is faster. As SATA is old news, most of the best SSD deals are on NVMe drives.
• 2.5-inch or M.2: Most internal SSDs are either 2.5-inch or M.2 form factor. 2.5-inch drives connect to SATA ports and can replace old-school mechanical hard drives. M.2 drives look like RAM sticks and plug into dedicated M.2 ports. You won't find that many deals on 2.5-inch drives, but they can be useful for bulk storage, as many motherboards have a ton of SATA ports but only two M.2 slots.
• PCIe 3, 4, or 5: If you're buying an NVMe SSD, you can choose among PCIe 3, 4, or 5 interfaces with speeds increasing from a maximum of around 3,500 MBps sequential reads and writes to 8,000 MBps and 14,000 MBps. At this point, PCIe 4 drives are mainstream and offer the best value. PCIe 5 drives are extraordinarily expensive, require a newer-gen platform that supports them, and also generate a fair amount of heat. We're seeing the best SSD deals on PCIe 4 drives, which is the best standard for most people.
• Capacity: Price increases have upended the market in recent months, so it's going to be tricky to find a decent 2TB NVMe drive for less than $140, with high-performance models going for even more. 4TB drives are an even worse proposition, costing $250+, with some reaching over $400. If you really need to save money, a decent 1TB drive can still be found for $70 or $80.

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SK hynix overtook Samsung Electronics on Monday to become South Korea's most valuable listed company, the first time Samsung has surrendered the top spot on the KOSPI index since November 2000, according to Reuters. SK hynix shares closed up 5.6% to lift its market capitalization to 2,080.4 trillion won ($1.35 trillion), edging past Samsung's 2,066.7 trillion won excluding preferred shares, after a rally of more than 340% this year built almost entirely on demand for the high-bandwidth memory it supplies to Nvidia and other AI chip buyers. The company held 61% of the global HBM market in 2025, against 17% for Samsung and 21% for Micron.

SK hynix is one of the few pure-play memory makers, while Samsung spans smartphones, displays, contract chipmaking, and home appliances, among many other markets. Investors value the focus on pure-play memory higher because HBM carries the industry's fattest margins and ties suppliers to specific AI accelerators, unlike commodity DRAM that buyers can swap between vendors.

SK hynix built its lead by continuing to invest in HBM through the 2023 downturn, when a memory price collapse pushed it to a 7.73 trillion won annual operating loss. Samsung, by contrast, reportedly hit yield and qualification delays on its HBM3E chips that slowed major Nvidia orders, the proximate reason for a 61% share against a 17% one.

Samsung's remaining stronghold is conventional DRAM, but even that margin is shrinking. Bank of America estimates put SK hynix's monthly DRAM output at roughly 589,000 wafers this year against Samsung's 691,000. SK hynix is projected to expand output by about 38% between 2025 and 2028, compared with 17.5% at Samsung, which would cut the production gap to under 10% by 2028 from around 23% in 2025. The capacity both companies are pouring into HBM is not going into the commodity chips behind the memory shortage they've warned could run past 2027, and SK hynix has pledged to double its memory wafer output within five years.

Samsung, meanwhile, disputes the ranking, telling Reuters that its market cap should include preferred shares, which would lift its value to 2,246.4 trillion won. The gap also reflects the HBM3 and HBM3E generations rather than what comes next. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang confirmed earlier this month that Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron all passed HBM4 certification for the Vera Rubin platform, and Samsung shipped the industry's first 12-layer HBM4E samples on May 29th.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who pushed through the original Hynix acquisition despite internal opposition, explained the strategy in a book published in January. "What I really wanted to accomplish when we acquired Hynix was to transform it from a commodity memory producer into a mainstream semiconductor company whose products are indispensable," Chey said.

SOLD OUT: This deal has proven popular and is now out of stock at Amazon. A good alternative is the same Corsair Vengeance i7500 PC, but with an RTX 5080 and 32GB DDR5 RAM instead, for $3,299.99. That's still plenty of serious power for you to play games at 4K, but for $1,500 less than the sold-out model here.

If you're trying to build the best gaming PC that money can buy, right now, a pre-built is foten a better option. That's true of this Corsair Vengeance i7500. This RTX 5090 monster is currently 25% off at Amazon, and costs $4,799. That's cheaper than buying the GPU ($4,199) and 64GB of RAM ($913) all by itself.

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At the heart of this PC is the Intel Core i9-14900KF. Despite its age, this is still one of the fastest CPUs around, and in our testing, it's the best Intel CPU you can buy right now for gaming. While it can't quite match the heady heights of AMD's coveted X3D range, it's the perfect partner for the RTX 5090 GPU, which is the real star of the show here, and the fastest gaming GPU on the market by a country mile. Couple that with 64GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, and you've got yourself what constitutes a bargain in 2026.

The Core i9-14900K (the KF version doesn't have integrated graphics) is Intel's Raptor Lake Refresh flagship. It features 24 cores and 32 threads, comprising eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores. Base clock speeds are 3.2 GHz, with boosted speeds of up to 6GHz.

As mentioned, the real star of the show here is the 5090 GPU, which is simply the best gaming GPU money can buy. It blows the competition out of the water thanks to its 32GB of GDDR7 VRAM, 21,760 CUDA cores, and hefty power draw.

These premium parts are complemented by 64GB of DDR5-6000 Corsair Vengeance RAM (worth $913 in the current economy) and a 2TB SSD. The PC is housed in Corsair's 3500X case, featuring wraparound tempered glass and fans aplenty to keep everything cool. A Corsair Nautilus RS ARGB liquid cooler cools the CPU, and all of the fans come with RGB for a sleek gaming aesthetic.

As noted, the GPU and RAM in this build are currently priced at over $5,000, so this is a pretty incredible deal if you want to get a gaming PC that should last you for several years to come.

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If you've got a Nintendo Switch 2 and need more storage, the Samsung P9 Express microSD Express Card is now just $39.99 at Amazon, down from $79.99.

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With sequential read speeds of up to 800 MB/s and write speeds of 200 MB/s, the P9 is much faster than your average microSD card. This unique format for Switch 2 means you can store more games on the go, without needing to install and uninstall titles whenever you want to play them.

Flash storage is suffering from the AI shortage, but this $39.99 deal is just $7.50 shy of the best-ever price we've seen on this drive, which was $31.50 in March.

As you can see from our testing data, the Samsung P9 Express isn't the fastest microSD Express card on the market, but that's because this is a budget card that won't break the bank. It's a good bit cheaper than many other options, especially thanks to this discount.

The P9 is our best budget microSD Express card pick in the 256GB category, offering reliable performance and strong durability. It also comes with a pretty generous three-year warranty, where most rivals only offer one year. Samsung offers protection against water immersion, temperature changes, and even X-ray exposure (we're looking at you, airport scanners).

The card also features a Host Memory Buffer to boost data transfer speeds, as well as Dynamic Thermal Guard to prevent overheating and throttling.

This is the best price we've seen on this drive in a while, and it isn't likely to improve as Prime Day continues, so grab yourself a bargain and boost your Switch 2 storage before it disappears.

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Pricing for the best gaming monitors has generally been trending downward, particularly the 1440p high-refresh segment which continues to be the sweet spot for most gamers. Take for instance the Samsung Odyssey G5 G55C curved gaming monitor. Originally launched at $349.99, it is now available at its lowest-ever price of $189.99 on Amazon just days ahead of Prime Day, representing a discount of roughly 46%.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

The Samsung Odyssey G5 G55C gaming monitor offers a 32-inch 1000R curved VA panel offering a 165 Hz refresh rate and 1440p QHD resolution. This monitor is suitable for gamers with mid-range systems, especially if they are looking for a curved screen for increased immersion. It is also HDR10-compliant, which should result in vivid colors, although the peak brightness levels are limited to 300 nits.

The Samsung Odyssey G5 G55C gaming monitor offers a 32-inch 1000R curved VA panel offering a 165 Hz refresh rate and 1440p QHD resolution. This monitor is suitable for gamers with mid-range systems especially if you are looking for a curved screen for increased immersion. It is also HDR10-compliant, which should result in vivid colors, although the peak brightness levels are limited to 300 nits.

The 1ms MPRT response time achieved using backlight strobing, should help in reducing any sort of blurring while support for AMD FreeSync should ensure that the monitor and GPU stay in sync for a smooth and tear-free experience. In terms of connectivity, the monitor comes with HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 inputs allowing one to connect more than one device. There are no inbuilt speakers, however, the 3.5mm audio jack allows you to plug in headphones or external speakers.

At its discounted price of $189.99, the Samsung Odyssey G5 G55C offers compelling value. It may not offer the best color accuracy or HDR performance when compared to IPS or OLED displays, but it is definitely worth considering for gamers who are looking to step up from a 1080p monitor. With Prime Day just around the corner, it may be worth keeping an eye on similar deals, although this discount already represents solid value for anyone planning a gaming monitor upgrade.

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The Bank of Korea has named performance bonuses at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix as a risk to the country's inflationary stability, warning in a price-stability report on June 17th that payouts worth several hundred thousand dollars per worker could push wages higher across the wider economy. The central bank found that special pay in the IT sector increased by 60.6% year over year in the first quarter, while wage growth elsewhere ran at just 2.1%, a gap wide enough that two chipmakers are now featured in national monetary policy. The bank held its benchmark rate at 2.50% in May and projects full-year inflation of 2.7%, above its 2% target.

SK hynix agreed last September to set aside 10% of its operating profit for worker bonuses, and Samsung committed 10.5% of its semiconductor operating profit after its union threatened an 18-day strike in May. These figures mean that a memory worker on a base salary of 80 million won ($52,400) stands to collect roughly 626 million won ($410,000) this year, while SK hynix staff could receive more than 700 million won ($454,851) if the company reaches 250 trillion won in annual profit. SK workers could see close to $900,000 next year on top of this year's haul.

In its price-stability report, the Bank of Korea modeled how concentrated payouts move prices. When the share of firms paying top-10% bonuses rises, consumer prices climb 0.05 percentage points roughly five months later, a lag effect that broad, even wage increases don’t produce.

Governor Shin Hyun-song has said that consumer prices should stay on a high upward path, with second-half headline inflation near 3%. The bonuses have already spilled into other areas, with labor groups citing them in next year's minimum wage talks, and card spending has risen fastest in the Gyeonggi Province districts around the two firms' fabs, where luxury sales have surged.

The payouts can of course be traced back directly to the AI-driven memory supercycle that has sent DRAM and NAND contract prices climbing through 2025 and 2026. HBM demand for AI accelerators has handed Samsung and SK hynix record operating profits, with profit-linked bonus deals converting that windfall for the companies into bags of cash for workers in the companies’ microchip divisions.

Senior South Korean policymaker Kim Yong-beom spooked markets last month when he floated the idea of a “national dividend” in a Facebook post, writing that gains from the AI infrastructure era were built on an industrial foundation the entire nation accumulated over half a century. Seoul officials later said it had no such plans, however.

Portable storage for your files and data isn't getting cheaper, thanks to the AI boom, which is why it's important to pick up a bargain while you can. Luckily, this microSD card could be a good option for your portable devices, from laptops to handhelds, along with cameras, drones, consoles, and more. This 256GB Samsung P9 Express microSD card is down to just $47.99 right now, reduced from $79.99, and saving you 40% in the process.

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You can expect maximum sequential read speeds of up to 800 MB/s, with write speeds of 200 MB/s. Those speeds make this Samsung P9 Express card up to four times faster than a typical UHS-I microSD card. It also features Host Memory Buffer (HMB) functionality to help improve data transfer speeds, with Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) support to help stop the card from overheating and limiting its performance.

Durability is important with microSD cards, and Samsung reckons this model is well protected against water immersion, extreme temperature variations, and even X-ray exposure. Ultimately, though, if you get it a bit wet, or drop it, you shouldn't lose your data. It comes with a 3-year limited warranty, and also supports Samsung's Magician software, which can help you monitor the card's health and to double-check that it's a genuine product.

There are a good set of reasons why you might want to pick up a card like this, especially if you're on the go a lot, but it's a firm recommendation if you're looking for a microSD card specifically for the Nintendo Switch 2. The Switch 2 is one of the first consoles to offer microSD Express support, meaning it can use this Samsung P9 Express card's faster storage speeds compared to older UHS-I cards. For gaming on a handheld, expect faster load times and smoother performance, especially in the more demanding games.

Whether it's a Switch 2, laptop, or camera, the Samsung P9 Express is a great option for fast, future-proofed expandable storage. You'll want to grab this 256GB version for just $47.99 right now before it sells out or the price goes up.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Are you stuck with just one monitor or a display under 27 inches? How about you treat yourself to this rather large and luxurious Samsung monitor for your gaming setup? This large 49-inch ultrawide gaming monitor has a resolution of 5120 x 1440 pixels, which is the same as putting two QHD monitors next to each other. Or you could go the other way and use this ultrawide monitor to condense multiple screens into one visual display, remove any bezels in your view, and make it the focal point of your battlestation. Samsung's Odyssey G9 (G95C) is currently reduced to just $664.99 at Amazon, down 34% in price from its original $999.99 tag, a saving of $335.

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The Samsung Odyssey G9 G95C gaming monitor is a massive ultrawide display that features a 49-inch SVA panel with a 1000R curve for extra immersion when gaming. It has a dense 109 PPI resolution, thanks to a 5120 x 1440 pixel display, paired with a fast refresh rate of 240Hz and a short response time of just 1ms. It also supports AMD FreeSync Premium Pro, for adaptive sync in games to match in-game frame rates to your monitor to eliminate screen tearing.

When we reviewed the Samsung Odyssey G9 G95C monitor, we were impressed by the performance of Samsung's monitor. It has impressively high brightness, a stellar response time for an SVA panel, and other features that helped us to easily reward it with a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, and an Editor's Choice. Our main concern was the original price of the monitor, but with this discount, that price is a mere shadow of its initial release price.

In testing, the Samsung Odyssey G9 G95C had the fastest response times for full black to white transitions, compared to other similar spec monitors that we had also reviewed.

The Odyssey G9 G95C has impressively high brightness with 1000 HDR support. It comes with multiple USB ports thanks to a USB hub with three USB Type-A ports to connect peripherals and a 3.5mm jack for audio. There are multiple video input connectivity options to take advantage of, including two DisplayPort 1.4 inputs and one HDMI 2.0 port.

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Samsung displayed its first physical mockup of HBM5 memory at Computex 2026 in Taipei. Tom's Hardware dropped by to see its pairing of the eighth-generation AI memory with a new in-package cooling structure it calls Heat Path Block, or HPB. Just last week, rival SK hynix unveiled its own iHBM thermal design, meaning both companies are now focusing on the same heat bottleneck in the die-to-die interface that connects memory to the processor. Samsung also confirmed that it’ll fab HBM5’s base die on its in-house 2nm process, down from the 4nm node used for HBM4 and HBM4E.

Rather than letting heat escape outward through the core dies, HPB builds a separate set of thermal pillars that pull heat from inside the stack and carry it to a spreader sitting above or beside the package, according to Samsung at Computex.

The design concentrates on the D2D PHY layer, the high-speed link between the HBM base die and the GPU, where power density and temperatures increase exponentially as stacks grow taller and run quicker. Samsung said it has already implemented and verified HPB on HBM4E, the generation whose first 12-layer samples it began shipping last month at 14 Gbps, scaling to 16 Gbps, with 3.6 TB/s of bandwidth per stack.

Samsung runs both a memory business and a logic foundry, letting it build the HBM5 stack and the 2nm die beneath it in-house. "AI systems are becoming more powerful and densely integrated, making heat management, data-processing efficiency, and packaging stability just as important as memory performance itself," Song Jai-hyuk, president and CTO of Samsung's Device Solutions division, told reporters at Computex, according to the Korea Herald. Song said the company would keep building its competitiveness in next-generation memory through cooperation with partners, including Nvidia.

Last year, a roadmap from KAIST projected HBM5 reaching a 4,096-bit interface, roughly 4 TB/s per stack, and about 100 watts of per-stack power, a thermal load that goes a long way in explaining why both Korean memory giants are reworking their packaging now rather than at launch.

SK hynix faced the same problem via a different route. Its iHBM design embeds cooling elements made of electrically non-conductive, thermally conductive silicon into the D2D PHY layer, which the company said cuts thermal resistance by more than 30% against current products.

SK hynix has opted to place a cooling element directly at the hotspot, while Samsung has built a route to evacuate heat away from it. Both methods are slated to debut with HBM5, but it’ll be a little while before we see either in action, as neither company expects it to reach mass production before 2028.

We’ve seen numerous announcements from major players in the gaming monitor space over the past few days, including Alienware, Asus, and Gigabyte. Not to be left out, Samsung also has five new gaming monitors in 27-inch and 32-inch screen sizes across the Odyssey G8, OLED G8, and Odyssey OLED G7 product families.

The Odyssey G8 is available in 27-inch (G80HF) and 32-inch (G80HS) sizes, both featuring IPS panels. The 27-inch model features a 5K resolution (5120 x 2880), which results in 218 pixels per inch (PPI). The monitor supports dual-mode operation, so at native resolution it maxes out at 180 Hz. At 2560 x 1440 resolution, the maximum refresh rate jumps to 360 Hz.

The 32-inch model bumps the resolution to 6K (6,144 x 3,456) and 224 PPI. This monitor also supports dual-mode operation, with a 165 Hz refresh rate at 6K, and a 330 Hz refresh rate at 3K (3,072 x 1,728).

Both monitors have a typical brightness of 350 nits (400 nits peak), support G-Sync and FreeSync, and include two HDMI 2.1 ports and one DisplayPort 2.1 port.

There are also two new additions to the Odyssey OLED G8 family, the 27-inch and 32-inch G80SH, which feature QD-OLED panels. Specs-wise, the monitors primarily differ in screen size and brightness (while both peak at 1,000 nits, the 27-inch model has a typical brightness of 250 nits versus 300 nits for the 32-incher).

With that said, both offer a 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160), a maximum refresh rate of 240 Hz, and a 0.03 ms response time. AMD FreeSync Premium Pro is supported, although there is no mention of Nvidia G-Sync compatibility. You'll find two HDMI 2.1 ports, a DisplayPort 2.1 port, and a USB-C port (96-watt Power Delivery) for your video needs.

Finally, there's the Odyssey OLED G7 (G73SH), which is a dual-mode 32-inch OLED panel. It's another 3,840 x 2,160 panel, this time with dual-mode capabilities: it operates at 165 Hz at 4K and 330 Hz at 1080p. The monitor boasts a 1,500,000:1 aspect ratio, 275-nit typical brightness, and 1,300-nit peak brightness (1.5 percent window). The Odyssey OLED G7 has one HDMI 2.1 and one DisplayPort 1.4 port.

The 27-inch and 32-inch Odyssey G8 are priced at $949.99 and $1,599.99, respectively. The 27-inch and 32-inch Odyssey OLED G8 come in at $1,099.99 and $1,299.99, respectively, while the Odyssey OLED G7 costs $1,099.99. Samsung is also currently offering up to a $300 E-Certificate when purchasing these monitors from its online store.

South Korean media has noted a surge in spending on luxury goods following big bonus payouts to semiconductor workers. For example, the Chosun Daily (machine translation) reports that luxury consumption in southern Gyeonggi Province, where the nation’s 'Semiconductor Belt' is located, has rocketed. In one local department store, some luxury goods category sales are up nearly 150%. The flood of cash and spending shows that towns in Gyeonggi Province are now enjoying their own 'Gangnam Style.'

The Korean news source provides some interesting stats showing the rapid increase in conspicuous consumption since the fab workers at Samsung and SK hynix earned their envy-inducing bonuses. At a department store/mall called Shinsegae South City, located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, luxury jewelry sales in May were up 146.3%, it says. Moreover, luxury watch sales rose 85.3%.

Chosun Daily also shared some retail stats for the Lotte Department Store Dongtan Branch (also in Gyeonggi Province). It says that from Jan 1 to May 27, 2026, luxury sales were up 40% compared to the same period last year. A breakdown of these figures shows customers didn’t just target luxury brands but big-ticket home appliances (a category up 30%). A statement from this department store shows they are aware of the economic driving force behind the spending on luxury goods. "Sales of high-end goods such as luxury and home appliances have increased due to the boom in semiconductor companies, the creation of advanced industrial clusters, and the move-in of new large apartment complexes," said a store statement.

It was a similar story at The Hyundai Department Store, Pangyo Branch (also in Gyeonggi Province). Here, luxury goods sales were up 46.1% in May. That compares with an increase observed across all Hyundai Department Store stores nationwide of about 32%. High-end watches and jewelry (66%) and high-end clothing brands (36.9%) were major contributors to the sales boom.

With locals snapping up luxury goods like kids picking up candy, the semiconductor boom in South Korea looks like it will be highly beneficial to mostly European brands like Chanel, Hermès, Prada, Gucci, Rolex, Cartier, etc.

Recent reports suggest the good times are rolling at SK hynix, where workers are tipped to receive bonuses of up to $900,000 next year, on top of $447,000 this year. It's good to see the huge influx of RAM and NAND cash not just going to Samjeon Nix (Samsung Electronics, SK hynix) corporate accounts, or one or two billionaires, but that the good times are being shared with those at the coal face.

Samsung Display is pushing the envelope in high-resolution, high-refresh rate displays with the announcement of its 360 Hz 4K QD-OLED panel. The company says that it will launch the new screen at Computex 2026, which is said to be the first one to go beyond 240 Hz while running at a native 4K resolution. We’ve already seen monitors that can go beyond 1,000 Hz, but these are often limited to 1080p or even lower resolutions. The new display achieved a higher refresh rate through optimized panel circuitry and driving systems, which must handle an increased amount of data compared to older, slower displays.

Aside from achieving 360 Hz at 4K, the Samsung panel also comes with other technical improvements. This includes Dual Mode, which allows competitive gamers to go up to 680 Hz at a reduced 1080p resolution. It also comes with VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification, meaning the display can hit 600 nits of brightness while keeping black levels at 0.0005 nits or lower, giving users excellent contrast while ensuring that they can still see the QD-OLED screen even in bright situations. Samsung says its engineers also revamped the display’s pixel structure, using a V-stripe pattern for sharper text rendering.

All these features should make it an excellent all-around panel for both professionals and gamers, ensuring that users get a sharp, crisp image while giving them deep blacks and a bright screen. “Many customers have described the new 31.5-inch 4K 360Hz product as a near-perfect monitor that delivers everything consumers expect from a premium monitor, including ultra-high resolution, an ultra-high refresh rate, high brightness, and enhanced readability,” Samsung Display Vice President Brad Jung claimed. He also added, “Building on the fundamental image quality advantages of QD-OLED and our continuous research and development efforts, Samsung Display will continue to introduce innovative products that exceed market expectations.”

The company says that it’s already in talks with 10 manufacturers to supply this particular panel. If all goes well, we expect to see new monitors equipped with this panel appear in the market in the next 12 months, especially as Samsung plans to mass-produce the display in the latter half of 2026. We’re excited to test monitors with this technology once they hit the market, but until then, you can check out the best 4K gaming monitors if you need a new screen right now.

Samsung Electronics' largest union has ratified a compensation deal that will pay semiconductor workers an average bonus of roughly $340,000, according to Bloomberg. About 74% of the union's members voted in favor of the agreement, which was first reached last week, just 90 minutes before an 18-day general strike was set to begin at the world's largest memory chipmaker. But the deal has deepened internal rifts at the company: some memory division employees stand to receive 600 million won ($400,000) while staff in Samsung's smartphone, TV, and appliance divisions are looking at payouts of just 6 million won ($4,000).

The agreement allocates 10.5% of Samsung's semiconductor division operating profit as stock-based bonuses, with an additional 1.5% in cash, plus a 6.2% average wage increase. The program runs for 10 years, contingent on the division hitting some lofty annual operating profit targets. Based on Bloomberg's projections of Samsung's 2026 operating profit at approximately 330 trillion won, the total bonus pool for the company's 78,000 semiconductor employees could reach roughly 40 trillion won ($26.6 billion).

The vote puts months of escalating labor unrest to an end, unrest that saw more than 40,000 workers rally in April, causing night-shift fab output to fall by 58%. Workers had compared their compensation unfavorably to rival SK hynix, which offered more generous bonuses last year. But while the strike threat is over, the resentment it exposed isn’t; only about 21% of Samsung's smaller union, which represents mostly non-chip staff, approved the agreement.

This resentment has led to work slowdowns that have spread to Samsung’s foundry and TSP (Test & Package) divisions, with meetings being canceled and decision-making on major projects reportedly at a standstill. TSP handles the back-end packaging and testing essential to producing high-bandwidth memory, and disruptions there could complicate Samsung's HBM4 production ramp for Nvidia's next-gen Rubin AI accelerators.

Samsung’s DX division head, TM Roh, said, “I understand that the recent wage negotiation process and its outcome have left many of you feeling alienated, deprived, and perhaps disappointed or hurt by the company,” in an internal memo following the signing of the deal. “I will personally oversee and examine what needs to change in each business unit, where we need to focus more boldly, and what is most urgently needed on the front lines.”

The vote came on a milestone day for the memory sector, with SK hynix and Micron both crossing the $1 trillion market cap mark early Wednesday, joining Samsung, which breached the same threshold last month. Samsung's challenge now is keeping its memory, foundry, and packaging teams functioning while one group of employees has received a historic windfall and the other hasn’t — and isn’t happy about it.

A South Korean court on Tuesday dismissed an attempt by Samsung Electronics' consumer electronics workers to block ratification of the company's AI-driven bonus deal, according to the Korea Herald, all but guaranteeing approval of a package that will pay memory chip employees roughly $400,000 each this year while their colleagues in smartphones and home appliances receive closer to just $4,000.

The Suwon District Court rejected the injunction filed by five employees from Samsung’s Device eXperience (DX) division, who had argued it was unfairly excluded from the vote. Over 90% of eligible members of the larger Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU), which led negotiations, had already cast ballots by Tuesday morning.

The vote closes Wednesday and is widely expected to pass, since an estimated 80% to 90% of the SELU's 57,290 voting members work in Samsung's semiconductor division, the primary beneficiary of the deal.

The government-mediated agreement, struck last week to avert an 18-day general strike by 48,000 workers, allocates 10.5% of Samsung's semiconductor division operating profit as stock-based bonuses, plus an additional 1.5% in cash. The program runs for 10 years, contingent on the division hitting aggressive annual operating profit targets of 200 trillion won ($132 billion) from 2026 to 2028 and 100 trillion won from 2029 to 2035.

Based on Bloomberg's projections of Samsung's 2026 operating profit at approximately 330 trillion won (~$218 billion), the total bonus pool for the company's 78,000 semiconductor employees would reach roughly 40 trillion won ($26.6 billion). Individual payouts vary sharply by unit: memory division workers stand to receive around 600 million won (~$400,000), while those in Samsung's struggling foundry and logic chip design operations would get substantially less but still significant sums.

DX division employees, like those behind the legal filing, by contrast, would receive approximately 6 million won (~$4,000) under the existing bonus structure, which the new deal doesn’t change.

While the court's ruling removed the most immediate legal obstacle, opposition to the deal extends well beyond the SECU. The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), which has roughly 20,000 members across both chip and non-chip divisions, said it’s also voting against the deal, and NSEU official Lee Ho-seok told Reuters that some foundry workers within Samsung's chip division are also frustrated with the terms.

A group of individual shareholders has separately threatened to sue, arguing that the profit-linked bonus scheme amounts to a distribution of company funds that requires a shareholder vote under South Korean commercial law. The Korea Shareholder Action Headquarters staged a rally last week near the Seoul residence of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, warning it would use all available legal avenues to block disbursement.

The internal rift has already had operational consequences, with resentment over the bonus disparity having spread to Samsung’s chip packaging divisions. It’s understood that intentional production slowdowns are disrupting HBM delivery schedules, prompting CEO Jun Young-hyun to urge employees in an internal memo to move past the conflict.

Samsung's tentative profit-sharing deal with its largest labor union averted an 18-day strike just days ago, but the agreement has triggered internal conflict that’s now threatening the company's ability to ship AI memory on schedule, according to a Seoul Economic Daily report published yesterday.

It’s understood that meetings are being canceled across Samsung's non-memory and shared business units. That work negligence has become widespread in the foundry and TSP (Test & Package) divisions, which handle the back-end packaging and testing work essential to producing high-bandwidth memory. One source told the publication that “decision-making on major projects has come to a complete halt,” as inter-departmental resentment deepens over the bonus gap.

This disruption in TSP could be especially consequential for Samsung as it looks to ramp up its HBM4 production for Nvidia’s next-gen Rubin AI accelerators. TSP uses an integrated turnkey system that routes chips through its own foundry and packaging lines, and any slowdown in back-end operations will directly constrain HBM output as all three major memory producers are racing to fulfill hyperscaler orders.

Another source speaking to the publication warned that continued negligence on production and verification lines could damage Samsung's customer relationships and jeopardize delivery commitments.

The root of the conflict is a massive disparity in proposed payouts. Under the tentative deal, employees in Samsung's memory division stand to receive bonuses of roughly 600 million won (~$400,000). In contrast, workers in the DX (Device eXperience) division, which covers smartphones, TVs, and home appliances, would receive approximately 6 million won (~$4,000). The deal allocates 10.5% of the semiconductor division's operating profit as stock-based bonuses, with an additional 1.5% in cash.

Workers outside the memory unit have pushed back hard, with a smaller union representing DX employees filing a court injunction this week to block the larger, chip-dominated union from handling collective bargaining. That union's membership surged from 3,000 to nearly 13,000 after the deal was announced. Separately, the Korea Shareholder Action Headquarters has threatened legal action, arguing the profit-linked bonus structure requires shareholder approval under Korean law.

Union members began casting electronic ballots on Friday, with voting open through May 27. Ratification requires participation from more than half of eligible members and a majority yes vote, but approximately 43,000 non-memory union members within the DS division could swing the outcome. According to reports from Korea, internal message boards have shown strong opposition from workers who view the deal as favoring the memory unit at everyone else's expense.

Samsung's semiconductor CEO, Jun Young-hyun, urged employees in an internal memo Thursday to move past the conflict, but the dispute now poses a tangible risk to Samsung during what Bloomberg estimates will be a record year, with 2026 operating profit projected at 330 trillion won (~$218 billion).

Following a last-minute deal yesterday between Samsung Electronics and its South Korean workers’ union, the company will reportedly distribute 40 trillion won ($26.6 million) in bonuses to chip employees. According to a Bloomberg report, the bonus, which will vary by employee, will result in an average payout of 513 million won (~$339,000) per employee in Samsung’s semiconductor division, based on proposed terms and projected 2026 operating profits. Other estimates put the figure at around 600 million won (~$396,000).

As part of the tentative deal — which narrowly averted a strike originally scheduled to begin May 21st — Samsung has reportedly agreed to distribute 10.5% of its profits as employee bonuses in the form of stock, plus another 1.5% in cash. The union initially requested 15%. Addressing another major union demand, the new bonus program will continue for 10 years — rather than a one-off payment — provided specified profit targets are met.

The union plans to vote on the deal internally over the coming week. Should the deal pass, employees will likely receive the bonuses in early 2027. The agreement permits employees to sell one-third of the shares right away, and the remainder in installments over two years, according to Bloomberg.

The deal comes after months of escalating labor unrest centered on employee bonuses. Labor unions demanded a revision of Samsung’s bonus structure that would allow employees to earn more, as the company’s profits surge amid the AI-driven semiconductor boom. Bloomberg estimates Samsung’s 2026 operating profits will multiply sevenfold to 330 trillion won (~$218 billion).

The unprecedented profits are projected as the AI infrastructure boom has transformed memory chips — once a cyclical commodity business — into one of the most lucrative industries on earth. Demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and other AI-oriented components has triggered what analysts are calling a semiconductor supercycle. The workers at the center of this boom argue that since they are active facilitators of the hardware, they deserve a share of the profits. Samsung is notably not the first major Korean chipmaker to reach this conclusion. Last September, SK Hynix settled with its own union to allocate 10% of annual operating profit directly to employees as performance bonuses for the next decade, while removing caps on bonuses.

The payouts themselves are extraordinary by almost any conventional corporate standard — but then again, so are the profits currently flowing through the AI semiconductor ecosystem. Reports suggest the payouts are having a broader impact on the industry. Jobs at Samsung and SK Hynix were already coveted in South Korea. However, with potential bonuses that can exceed the lifetime earnings of workers in other sectors, competition for roles is sky-high. The bonuses are also reshaping decision-making within the companies themselves. We recently covered reports that Samsung and SK Hynix employees were considering terminating prestigious overseas training opportunities to remain eligible for bonuses.

Samsung Electronics has narrowly avoided an 18-day strike at its South Korean chip operations after reaching a last-minute tentative wage agreement with its labor union on Wednesday — just hours before workers were due to walk out.

The union, representing nearly 48,000 members, said it would suspend the general strike planned for May 21 to June 7 and put the deal to an internal vote. Voting is expected to run from May 22 to May 27, though some notices put the window at May 23 to May 28. If members approve it, the tentative agreement becomes formal; if they reject it, the strike threat could return.

The deal followed last-minute talks involving Samsung management, union leaders, and South Korea’s labor ministry. Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon helped restart negotiations after earlier discussions broke down. Samsung’s Device Solutions negotiator, Yeo Myeong-gu, and union leader Choi Seung-ho signed the tentative agreement in Suwon.

Exact terms of the agreement have not been fully disclosed, but the dispute centered on performance bonuses. The union had pushed for Samsung to allocate 15% of annual operating profit to employee bonuses and scrap a 50% annual salary cap on performance payouts. Samsung had resisted those demands, arguing that profit-sharing across its businesses was complicated because its booming memory division and weaker logic/foundry operations were performing very differently.

The breakthrough caps months of escalating labor unrest. Dissatisfaction grew among workers as Samsung’s semiconductor profits surged on AI-driven memory demand, with workers comparing their payouts to those at rival SK Hynix, which has offered more generous bonus structures.

After earlier talks collapsed in February and March, the union threatened a May general strike. Further negotiations were scheduled for May 11 and 12, but the penultimate talks broke down again on May 12 without a deal. Leaked transcripts from the talks alleged that Samsung offered memory workers a 607% bonus worth $477,000, while logic chip staff were to get as little as 50%. The union rejected the proposal — citing a potential retention crisis due to the imbalance — and threatened to proceed with the strike.

The union had already demonstrated its ability to disrupt operations via a one-day strike that reportedly saw over 40,000 workers participate and caused night-shift output at Samsung’s foundry operations to fall sharply, with memory output also hit.

Ahead of today's deal, the May 21st strike seemed inevitable, with Samsung reportedly winding down chip production in preparation. Samsung had also obtained last-minute court injunctions to limit the impact of the strikes before direct government intervention helped bring both sides back to the negotiating table.

Analysts and officials warned of potential disruptions to chip supply and major economic damage in South Korea. One estimate cited possible daily losses of around 1 trillion won if production halted, while others warned of tens of billions of dollars in broader economic risk.

For now, that risk is suspended — not eliminated. The immediate question is whether Samsung’s union members accept the tentative wage deal. Approval will defuse the company’s biggest labor crisis in years, while a rejection will put the strike back on the table at one of the most sensitive points in the global AI chip supply chain.

Samsung and SK Hynix employees are reportedly rejecting overseas training programs in favor of bonuses while seeing their matchmaking grades rise on online dating sites. According to the Korean Media outlet Chosun, discussions on Samsung Electronics’ internal bulletin board indicate that employees are considering choosing potential bonuses over hard-earned, typically coveted training programs. The sentiments come amid projections that the company plans to distribute “record-high” performance bonuses due to profit surges from the AI-driven semiconductor boom, with the company’s policies restricting eligibility.

According to the report, Samsung Electronics has exempted employees currently undergoing overseas training from bonus eligibility. This stance is reportedly seeing a number of employees terminating their training to return to their roles. Samsung runs a highly sought-after training program that provides employees around their 7th year at the company with financial and operational support to pursue postgraduate degrees at prestigious institutions both in and outside Korea. For example, in addition to their annual salaries, the company provides employees pursuing an MBA in the US with 500 million Korean won (~$333,000) in tuition and living expenses over two years. The support varies across institutions and countries.

The program is typically highly competitive, with only 1 in 70 applicants succeeding. Now, following projections that the electronics giant could distribute an average of 600 million (~$400,000)won in bonuses to employees in the semiconductor division, interest in the training programs has dropped. Reports suggest that even those currently undergoing training are considering halting midway to be eligible for performance bonuses, as these are likely to outweigh the financial benefits of the training program.

According to the Chosun report, sources from Samsung Electronics stated, “There have been inquiries to the HR team about whether trainees can withdraw mid-program and if they must repay previously received company support.” indicating that despite potential repayment obligations, some employees are willing to return regardless.

These reports are coming even as Samsung Electronics employees are planning industrial action to compel the company to extend continuous performance bonuses to employees outside the semiconductor division. The company says only employees in the semiconductor division will receive ongoing bonuses, while others in other divisions will receive a one-time payment. The strike is scheduled for the 21st of May.

At Samsung’s competitor, SK Hynix, similar reports of employees abandoning training in favor of bonuses are emerging. Despite the fact that SK Hynix takes a softer stance by offering partial bonuses to training beneficiaries, anonymous posts on its internal board reportedly include comments like, “If next year’s bonus reaches 700 million Korean won (~$466,000), not abandoning the training might make me a sudden pauper overnight” and “Seeing the projected bonuses for next and the following year, I want to cut off the hand that applied for the training.”

These comments follow projections of even bigger bonuses in the coming years, as SK Hynix paid out 140 million Korean won (~$93,000) in performance bonuses early this year, which, unlike at Samsung, was distributed across the entire company. Analysts predict a dip in the popularity of overseas training programs at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix over the next few years, as the appeal of performance bonuses grows. SK hynix bonuses are tipped to hit $477,000 this year and as much as $900,000 next year.

Beyond strikes, life-changing decisions, and financial gain, these massive performance bonuses stemming from AI-driven profit surges are influencing quite unexpected areas of life in South Korea. Reports from Chosun indicate that SK Hynix employees are ranking higher on matchmaking companies’ eligibility scales due to bonuses and increased income, with employees reportedly being flooded with blind-date offers.

"In the past, if we matched a partner for an SK hynix employee at about a B+ grade, now it's unconditionally 'A-grade.' As the overwhelming bonus system has become known, we're seeing a trend where female members are seeking out SK hynix employees first,” said Son Dong-gyu, CEO of the matchmaking company Bien Aller.

However, on the flip side, because bonuses are paid in direct proportion to days worked, there has been an uptick in aversion to taking extended leave, such as parental leave, as these are reportedly perceived as forfeiting income. These reports all underscore the massive influence of the AI boom on almost every aspect of humanity.

Noriyuki "hiyohiyo" Miyazaki, the developer of CrystalDiskInfo, has announced an important new feature in version 9.9.0: the ability to detect fake Samsung SSDs. The update is very useful given the sharp rise in counterfeit Samsung SSDs. When CrystalDiskInfo identifies a drive as inauthentic, it clearly labels the device with a [FAKE] label at the front to make it easy for users to spot the counterfeits.

Samsung makes some of the best SSDs on the market, which unfortunately makes their drives popular targets for counterfeiters. The Samsung Magician software is usually the first tool that comes to mind when you want to verify the authenticity of a Samsung SSD. However, recent updates to CrystalDiskInfo have introduced a similar verification feature, offering consumers a reliable third-party alternative.

While the developer has not provided an in-depth explanation of the technical details behind this detection method, they have shared that the function will rely on periodic updates for the time being. We suspect the program may be cross-referencing firmware and other S.M.A.R.T. data from the legit drives to weed out the bad ones. As a result, users may need to update CrystalDiskInfo regularly. Nonetheless, Miyazaki has expressed plans to roll out an improved version of the authentication feature in the near future.

In a test conducted with ITG Marketing, the tester demonstrated the effectiveness of CrystalDiskInfo’s new counterfeit-detection feature. The program quickly flagged a Samsung 990 Pro clone. Specifically, CrystalDiskInfo identified the PCI Vendor ID as belonging to a controller manufactured by Maxio, not Samsung. The firmware version also came out to 8888888, which is also bogus. It's easy for fraudsters to manipulate the physical labels and maybe even the name of how the drive shows up in Windows, but the controller's PCI Vendor ID is harder to falsify.

The verification feature is still a work in progress, which is why it requires regular updates. If you ever encounter a fake Samsung SSD, you can help contribute to improving CrystalDiskInfo’s detection feature. The developer encourages users to share their experiences by exporting the scan results as a text file and either emailing it directly to the developer or uploading it to the CrystalDiskInfo bulletin board.

CrystalDiskInfo, which has been around for 18 years now, is a powerful utility that reads the S.M.A.R.T. data from your storage drives and translates the cryptic raw values into valuable information we can understand. The program offers a wealth of information that spans from basic metrics, such as drive temperatures, to more advanced data, such as when helium starts to leak out of helium-filled hard drives.

CrystalDiskInfo has amassed over 90 million downloads during its lifetime. Miyazaki's commitment to improving the software has made it one of the best out there, and with the addition of this new Samsung SSD authenticity checker, it's more useful than ever.

Samsung has been granted a last-minute injunction by a South Korean court that limits the scope of strike action planned by disgruntled employees later this week, forcing both sides back to the bargaining table for more talks. The Financial Times reports that the Suwon District Court passed down a ruling on Monday, partially accepting a request from the company to neuter the planned industrial action.

Workers are unhappy over bonus caps and seeking a more generous share of Samsung's profits, amongst other things, in an 18-day walkout scheduled to begin on May 21. Now, the aforementioned court has said that staffing levels required to maintain safety, prevent damage to the facility, and maintain product quality "must remain at normal levels," FT reports. Furthermore, union members and their leaders will not be allowed to occupy or lock company facilities, or to prevent workers from entering them, and will face a fine of $74,000 (100 million won) per day if this order is breached.

While Samsung has already started winding down production at its facilities in anticipation of the walkout, its share price has jumped in early trading as a result of the ruling, which obviously favors the company and will weaken the impact of any strike action, and thereby the bargaining position of the workers.

To that end, Reuters reports that Samsung Electronics and the labour union have resumed talks to stop the industrial action. Some 45,000 workers had been expected to take part, although it's unclear how many are affected by the court ruling should the strike go ahead. A statement from the union reported by Reuters said that the action wouldn't stop the strike from going ahead if no deal can be reached, but that the union would "engage seriously" in negotiations.

Previous estimates indicate the strike could cost Samsung a total of 4 trillion won in revenue, with others putting the figure higher at 1 trillion won ($700 million) per day. Workers have already rejected the offer of a one-time bonus payout of $340,000 per employee. No doubt, this offer is undermined somewhat by rival SK hynix, which is set to pay out some $477,000 per employee this year and $900,000 next year. Bonuses at the company remain guaranteed for the next 10 years, putting Samsung's offer in the shade.

South Korea's government has said it will pursue all options to prevent a strike, including an emergency arbitration order. Such a government order would, in theory, prevent strike action for 30 days while mediation and arbitration are conducted by the country's Labor Relations Commission.

Internal Samsung wage negotiation transcripts obtained by Reuters show the company proposed bonuses of 607% of annual salary for its memory chip division in March, while offering workers in its loss-making foundry and System LSI businesses between 50% and 100%. The documents, part of hundreds of pages of meeting minutes, offer a detailed look at the internal fractures driving Samsung toward what would be the largest strike in its history, scheduled to begin on Thursday.

Samsung's Device Solutions division houses three businesses under one roof: memory, System LSI, and foundry. The first is printing money on the back of AI-driven HBM demand, while the other two have posted combined operating losses running into the trillions of Korean won.

Samsung's negotiators argued in the transcripts that the bonus disparity reflects that, with Kim Hyung-ro, a vice president and management negotiator, telling the union that the logic chip divisions would have collapsed or shut down without the memory unit's profits. “So how can you ‌justify giving performance bonuses?” he is quoted as saying in the transcripts.

The union understandably rejects this reasoning, with its chairman, Choi Seung-ho, counterstating that a worker in the memory division receiving 500 million won in bonuses while a foundry colleague takes home 80 million won creates a retention crisis the company cannot afford.

Samsung has since replaced Kim Hyung-ro as its chief bargaining representative, reportedly at the union's insistence, and Chairman Jay Y. Lee issued a rare public apology on Saturday, cutting short an overseas trip to address the dispute in person.

Reuters has also reportedly spoken with workers who described shrinking teams in Samsung's foundry operations at Pyeongtaek, with engineers departing for both SK hynix and Micron. This confirms what union chairman Choi said last month, when he highlighted that roughly 200 Samsung employees moved to SK hynix over the previous four months alone.

SK hynix set a market benchmark last September when it agreed to allocate 10% of annual operating profit directly to employees for the next decade and removed caps on performance payouts. Based on 2026 profit forecasts, that deal translates to average per-worker bonuses approaching $477,000 this year, with projections nearly doubling in 2027. Samsung's union is demanding a similar structure: 15% of operating profit allocated to a bonus pool, the removal of the existing 50% cap, and formalization in employment contracts.

Samsung is the only major semiconductor company that designs logic chips, manufactures them on a contract basis, and produces its own memory. That integrated model underpins a long-standing ambition to challenge TSMC in contract chipmaking by 2030, backed by more than $116 billion in planned investment. But the bonus disparity exposed in the transcripts highlights a huge problem with housing wildly unequal businesses under one compensation framework.

Yonsei University professor Namuh Rhee argues that the conflict is partly a consequence of Samsung's own organizational design. Combining profitable memory with loss-making foundry operations under a single division, Rhee wrote, creates internal conflicts of interest and depresses the company's stock valuation, according to Reuters.

The April one-day walkout provided a preview of what a full stoppage could look like: memory fab output fell 18% on the affected shift, and contract foundry production dropped 58%. Samsung has already begun winding down chip production in anticipation of the strike going ahead.

Ahead of industrial action by disgruntled employees over bonuses, Samsung has reportedly begun throttling semiconductor output by cutting new wafer input and placing lithography, etching, and cleaning equipment on standby, according to a report from both the Korea Herald and Seoul Economic Daily.

The pre-strike adjustments, described as “emergency management mode," are designed to limit losses at facilities that normally operate around the clock. However, they also mean that Samsung's chip production is already declining days before the union's 18-day walkout is scheduled to begin on May 21st.

The process involves restricting how many new wafers are fed into production lines and changing the product mix to focus on higher-value chips like HBM and advanced node semiconductors, per a source reported by the Herald.

This slowdown adds to a timeline of disruption that’ll extend well beyond the planned strike dates. KB Securities analyst Kim Dong-won estimated in a recent report that restarting and stabilizing Samsung's highly automated production lines after an 18-day stoppage could take an additional two to three weeks. Combined with this pre-strike wind-down period, Samsung's total window of reduced output could stretch to six weeks or longer.

According to the Seoul Economic Daily, daily losses could approach 3 trillion won ($2 billion) if fabrication lines are paused entirely. Professor Kwon Seok-joon at Sungkyunkwan University previously estimated that the 18-day walkout alone would cause 10 trillion to 17 trillion won ($17 billion) in direct losses, while JPMorgan has projected total losses of up to 43 trillion won ($28 billion) when factoring in labor costs and extended production disruption.

As of yesterday, May 14th, more than 43,000 workers had signed up to participate in the walkout, approaching the union's target of 50,000. "Even at the current level, more than half of the entire semiconductor (DS) division workforce is joining, and the company judges that a de facto shutdown is imminent,” a source told the Seoul Economic Daily.

Samsung sent a letter to the union today following the collapse of talks earlier this week, proposing that both sides resume talks without preconditions on Saturday, but union head Choi Seung-ho rejected the overture, telling Korean media that negotiations could take place after June 7, the scheduled end date of the strike.

TrendForce projects that the strike could disrupt 3% to 4% of global DRAM supply and 2% to 3% of NAND supply, given Samsung's production share. The longer-term risk, however, may be reputational because Samsung is ramping up the supply of HBM and high-capacity server DRAM for AI infrastructure. Even brief delivery uncertainty could push customers toward SK hynix and Micron.

All three leading-edge foundries — Intel Foundry, Samsung Foundry, and TSMC — have initiated mass production of chips using 2nm-class process technology. Samsung was the first one to start production using its SF2 node (though it could be argued that this is a rebadged SF3P) around mid-2025, Intel followed suit with its 18A node in November (albeit at development lines in Oregon, not production lines in Arizona), and TSMC initiated high-volume manufacturing using its N2 process at two volume fabs in Taiwan in December. We outline what's next for these three leading-edge foundries.

The current state of the market

The amount of capital, expertise, and experience required to develop leading-edge process technologies and build high-volume fabs supporting advanced nodes is so high that only three companies in the world are currently capable of producing them. Companies like Rapidus have yet to prove they are a viable leading-edge chipmaker. Meanwhile, all three leading foundries are transitioning from traditional node scaling to a more segmented, architecture- and product-driven approach, but are doing so with different priorities.

TSMC is focused on predictable scaling, combined with aggressive specialization, which is why its roadmap is split into high-performance computing-oriented technologies with backside power delivery network (BSPDN) and cost/density-optimized nodes without it.

Samsung has a wide range of node variants, though it is currently more focused on yield improvement, rather than on scaling, which is why its roadmap appears more iterative than breakthrough-focused. This is perhaps why it is behind competitors with its BSPDN implementation.

Intel seems to be pursuing the most aggressive technological roadmap with a conjoined implementation of gate-all-around (GAA) RibbonFET transistors and PowerVia BSPDN, rapid iteration, and the aggressive pursuit of High-NA EUV lithography in 2027 – 2028, years before its rivals.

Intel Foundry: The most ambitious chipmaker

Being a new player in the foundry market and a large integrated design manufacturer (IDM), Intel is pursuing a multi-faceted strategy aimed at addressing the needs of its own products, as well as attempting to land customers that do not necessarily require leading-edge process technologies.

Intel's roadmap is the most ambitious, but arguably the most volatile one, when compared to the plans of other leading foundries. On the one hand, Intel needs the best fabrication technologies to differentiate its own consumer and data center products. To that end, with its 18A and subsequent process technologies, Intel bet on the simultaneous implementation of GAA transistors and a BSPDN to maximize performance, power efficiency, and transistor density. On the other hand, since Intel has zero customers from the automotive and smartphone sectors, it does not have any technologies tailored specifically for these applications.

Intel's 18A is probably the most important technology for the company in years, as it will return production of the company's consumer CPUs back to its own fabs, something that promises to greatly improve margins. Although the company is in the process of improving yields on 18A and current 18A volumes are not significant, Intel is already preparing follow-on refinements such as 18A-P (with enhanced performance and improved power efficiency) and 18A-PT (which supports through silicon vias (TSVs) and can be used for 3D-integrated systems-in-package).

Beyond that, Intel is targeting 14A and 14A-E for 2027 ~ 2028 production readiness and an early ramp. The nodes will introduce Intel's 2^nd Generation RibbonFET GAA transistors, revamped PowerDirect backside power delivery, and Turbo Cells to improve the performance of critical data paths.

These will be the company's first nodes to use High-NA EUV lithography, at least for some 14A and 14A-E variants, which will be another attempt to introduce a technology that will differentiate Intel compared to competing nodes. Intel has said that the interest in 14A from external customers is significant. Musk's Terafab project is set to make use of Intel's 14A, as a licensee, but not as a customer.

At the same time, Intel is heavily relying on node variants to address different use cases, including performance enhancements (P), feature enhancements (E), and through-silicon via support (T). These process technologies are required to enable Intel to build custom multi-chiplet products for consumer and data center applications, which directly support its strategy to produce most of its products at in-house fabs.

Intel's roadmap also includes continued investment in mature nodes such as Intel 16 and UMC 12 as the company pursues a strategy to capture demand outside leading-edge applications, to ensure steady revenue streams.

While Intel's plans are aggressive and ambitious, the abrupt cancellation of 20A in late 2024 highlights the execution risks associated with such a roadmap.

Samsung Foundry: When yields matter more than nodes

Samsung was the first company to adopt GAA transistors with its SF3E technology in 2022, three years before Intel and TSMC. However, low and unpredictable yields have limited the adoption of this technology to niche applications like cryptocurrency mining ASICs. While SF3 was more mature, it was still adopted by select applications, mostly internally. As a result, the highest-performing chips made by Samsung are produced using FinFET-based SF4P and SF4X, which puts the company behind its rivals.

For now, reducing defect density, increasing yields, and ensuring stable yields are the top priorities for Samsung. Last year, it began making mobile system-on-chips (SoCs) using its SF2 node (which it calls the 1^st Generation 2nm GAA process), but among the major goals for the company for this year is to ramp up '2^nd Generation 2nm [SF2P] and prepare performance and power-optimized 4nm process,' which suggests limited adoption of SF2. The fact that the low-power 4nm-class node will be a major workhorse for the company. The company's roadmap also indicates SF2X (HPC-oriented) in 2026 as well as SF2A (for automotive applications) and SF2Z (SF2X with BSPDN) in 2027, though we can only wonder whether these nodes will be widely adopted.

Nonetheless, Samsung's iterative approach to the evolution of its SF2 nodes (SF2=>SF2P=>SF2X=>SF2X with backside power) is evident, which gives us hope that the company's yields will gradually improve.

Samsung's next major node will be SF1.4, a 1.4nm-class process technology optimized for consumer and smartphone applications, which won't feature backside power delivery. Samsung's slides put SF1.4 above the SF3 and SF2 families, which may suggest that this manufacturing process will feature some major enhancements, such as a new GAA transistor design or other major refinements. Samsung expects to mass-produce chips on its SF1.4 technology in 2027, so it can formally leave Intel and TSMC behind with its 1.4nm node.

A big question lingers, and that's whether Samsung plans to finally start using pellicles with its EUV lithography tools starting with SF1.4, or later. A lack of pellicles greatly increases the number of potentially yield-killing stochastic mask-borne defects, which are increasingly dominant at the 2nm and are getting much worse at thinner nodes.

TSMC: New technologies like clockwork

TSMC's roadmap remains the most structured and execution-focused among the three. The world's largest contract chipmaker initiated mass production of chips using its N2 process technology — its first node with GAA nanosheet transistors — at two fabs simultaneously late last year in a bid to meet demand from a wide range of applications, starting from Apple's smartphones and all the way to AMD's server-bound EPYC 'Venice' CPUs. Initiating volume production at two fabs simultaneously is something that rarely happens in the industry, though it looks like structural changes caused by demand from the AI segment are changing many things in the industry.

TSMC is on track to start making chips using performance-enhanced N2P with traditional frontside power delivery and A16 technology that adds backside power delivery on top, a split which highlights TSMC's increasingly segment-specific approach to leading-edge technologies.

Going forward, the company is set to continue offering advanced technologies with and without BSPDN, as this feature may be too expensive for consumer and smartphone applications, but is clearly valuable for heavy-duty data center processors. For example, A14 will emerge as a smartphone-oriented node in 2028, but then will re-emerge as a data center-oriented node once it gets BSPDN in 2029.

In addition, the company will continue to offer mainstream nodes like N4C, N3C, and eventually N2C for applications that are more sensitive to costs. Automotive-specific nodes (N7A, N5A, N3A) will lag leading-edge nodes by one to two generations, as they prioritize reliability and longevity over performance and transistor density.

TSMC's segmentation and yearly cadence for advanced manufacturing nodes enable the foundry to address the most demanding clients like Apple, AMD, Intel, Nvidia, or Qualcomm with competitive process technologies. Ultimately, such cadence and a wide range of nodes reinforce TSMC's position as the most predictable and commercially disciplined foundry.

Fractured futures

To sum things up, TSMC continues to bet on execution discipline and segmentation as it ramps its 2nm-class node at two fabs to meet overwhelming demand from a variety of applications, starting from humble cell phones all the way to heavy-duty servers.

Intel leads in architectural ambitions, as currently it is the only company that uses a process technology that features both gate-all-around transistors and backside power delivery. However, the company admits that its yields will only get to world-class level by 2027, which likely makes Intel's 18A node significantly less attractive to demanding customers.

Samsung sits somewhere in the middle, offering a wide variety of process technologies for different applications, but the company's yields with GAA-based nodes have been a challenge, which is why the firm is now focused on yield increases rather than on breakthroughs, so it does not attempt to leapfrog its competitors.

Government-mediated negotiations between Samsung Electronics and its largest labor union fell apart on Wednesday, according to Reuters, leaving just eight days before an 18-day strike that could shut down much of the world's biggest memory chip operation. The union warned that it is “no longer considering additional negotiations” until after the proposed general strike.

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok responded by convening an emergency ministerial meeting, instructing officials to closely manage the situation given what his office called the potential gravity of the impact on the national economy.

The breakdown followed two days of marathon talks brokered by South Korea's National Labor Relations Commission. The commission said it ended proceedings because of the gulf between the two sides and the union's own request to suspend discussions.

JPMorgan has estimated that an 18-day work stoppage would cost Samsung over 4 trillion won in direct revenue, roughly 1% of its semiconductor division's annual sales. Professor Song Heon-jae of the University of Seoul puts the figure higher, projecting losses of approximately 1 trillion won ($700 million) per day from factory shutdowns, Seoul Economic Daily reported on April 26. Meanwhile, the union's own estimate sits at up to 30 trillion won ($20.3 billion) in total damages.

Samsung has offered a one-time payment for 2026 but refused to commit to permanent changes in how bonuses are calculated, according to union representative Choi Seung-ho. That fell fundamentally short of the union’s demands, which include the scrapping of a cap on bonus pay currently set at 50% of base salary, and the allocation of 15% of annual operating profit to performance payouts.

While Choi said the union doesn’t plan to resume talks before the May 21st strike date, it would consider a new offer if Samsung puts one forward. Samsung said it regretted the outcome and would continue seeking dialogue.

“We spent 16 out of the 17 hours of mediation simply waiting around,” Choi said, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. “We declared the negotiations over because management kept extending the mediation without making any meaningful changes to its proposal, which appeared to be an attempt to weaken momentum for a general strike.”

The collapse has raised the prospect of an emergency arbitration order, a legal mechanism that would immediately freeze industrial action for 30 days while the labor commission mediates. South Korean Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon stopped short of invoking it on Wednesday, saying the dispute should be resolved through dialogue. The union has warned that such an order would damage labor relations further.

The tool has rarely been used, and doing so would be an unusual step for the current administration, which is friendly towards unions, but the economic stakes are substantial: semiconductors accounted for 37% of South Korea's total exports in April, up from 20% a year earlier, according to government data cited by Reuters.

The union now counts more than 90,000 members, representing over 70% of Samsung's South Korean workforce. That figure has grown from roughly 73,000 earlier this month and 32,000 during Samsung's first-ever strike in 2024. A one-day walkout in April offered a preview of what a full stoppage could do: Samsung's memory fab output fell 18% on the affected shift, and contract foundry production dropped 58%. With a potential 18-day strike, the losses in production and profit could be even larger.

Memory and storage chip prices have been steadily increasing worldwide due to the AI-driven shortage. Still, Japanese consumers are being hit the hardest, with crazy prices appearing in multiple shops across Tokyo. According to Akiba PC Hotline! [machine translated], Samsung SSDs have increased by up to 300% in various computer retailers, with the top-of-the-line 8TB Samsung 9100 Pro going up as high as $3,470.97 USD (547,980 JPY) at the current exchange rate. By comparison, you can get the same drive on Amazon for just $1,960.69 — around 43% cheaper than what is offered among Japanese retailers.

The egregious pricing isn’t limited to large-capacity PCIe 5.0 drives either. The 4TB 9100 Pro with heat sink is priced at $1,773 USD (279,980 JPY), which is a 31.5% increase from its previous price, while the 2TB version is now at $893 (140,980 JPY). These examples are around double the prices of the same models here in the U.S., as you can see on our SSD price tracker. More “affordable” Samsung models like the 990 Pro, 990 Evo Plus, and even the 870 Evo didn’t escape the pricing hikes, either. When compared to their prices from January of this year, those drives have jumped in price by as much as 384.7%.

The Japanese news outlet also reports that the price hikes aren’t limited to Samsung drives, as Kioxia SSDs also saw recent price jumps of between 39.8% to 59.4%. This meant that the 2TB Exceria Pro G2 costs $594.68 USD (93,880 JPY), while the 1TB Exceria Basic now costs $208 (32,980 JPY). It’s not all bad news for Japanese buyers, though, as Western Digital (SanDisk), Lexar, and other less popular brands saw a price drop for Gen 4 and Gen 5 M.2 NVMe SSDs and SATA SSDs.

These are some of the highest price hikes we’ve seen across the world, so far. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that this will be the last price hike we’ll see, as PC makers are reporting increasing component costs that go beyond RAM and storage. Even other storage products like memory cards and flash drives saw price increases between 124% and 261%. Unfortunately, the average buyer cannot do anything but either pay the higher prices or wait until they go down in the distant future (if they ever do).

A senior South Korean policymaker has proposed redistributing tax revenue generated by the country's AI semiconductor boom to ordinary citizens as a “dividend,” rattling stock markets on the same day that Samsung's union bonus talks showed no sign of resolution, according to Bloomberg.

Kim Yong-beom, presidential chief of staff for policy, floated the idea of a "national dividend" in a Facebook post late Monday, writing that gains from the AI infrastructure era were built on an industrial foundation the entire nation accumulated over half a century. The benchmark Kospi index fell as much as 5.1% before recovering to close down 2.3% after Kim clarified he was referring to excess tax revenue rather than a new windfall levy on corporate profits. A government official confirmed to the outlet that the government is not considering any such plans, and that the comments were Kim's personal opinion.

The post came during the final stretch of government-mediated talks between Samsung and its largest labor union. Negotiations entered a second day on Tuesday at the National Labor Relations Commission in Sejong after 11 hours of talks on Monday produced no agreement, the Korea Herald reported.

The union is demanding 15% of operating profit as performance bonuses, removal of the existing payout cap, and a 7% base pay increase. Samsung management has reportedly offered terms exceeding rival SK hynix's 10% profit-sharing, but the union rejected those proposals because it wants the ratio institutionalized as a permanent system.

Samsung is forecast to post roughly 330 trillion won ($220 billion) in operating profit this year, while SK hynix is projected at 239 trillion won. If the two companies hit those marks, their combined corporate tax bill alone could exceed 100 trillion won, which would surpass the roughly 100 trillion won the Korean government estimated for total national corporate tax collection in 2026, per KB Securities analyst Lim Jae-kyun.

The union has set May 21st as the start of an 18-day general strike running through June 7th if talks collapse. Seoul Economic Daily reported earlier today that the negotiations were heading toward failure, with the Korea Herald noting that the Labor Relations Commission left open the possibility of extending mediation past its scheduled close if necessary.

A one-day walkout in April cut Samsung's contract foundry output by 58% on the affected night shift, and analysts have estimated that an 18-day stoppage could cost $6.9 billion to $11.7 billion in direct production losses.

The government does have a rarely used nuclear option: Under Article 76 of South Korea's labor law, the labor minister can issue an emergency arbitration order suspending strike activity for 30 days. The mechanism has been invoked only four times since 1969, and the Labor Ministry said Tuesday it has not begun reviewing the option.

Samsung and its largest labor coalition are sitting down for government-mediated negotiations over the next two days, the Korea Herald reported, with just 10 days remaining before a planned general strike that threatens to shut down the world's biggest memory chip operation for more than two weeks.

The two sides are meeting through South Korea's National Labor Relations Commission after earlier rounds of mediation in February and March collapsed without a deal. The union has warned it will walk out from May 21st through June 7th if the talks fail, and with roughly 73,000 members now enrolled, estimates put expected participation at 30,000 to 40,000 workers.

South Korean Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon welcomed the resumption of talks on X, writing that "the solution may already be close," but as of 3 p.m. local time, no deal had reportedly been reached. The union has warned that the strike could create a shortfall of some $20.4 billion, according to reporting by Digitimes.

JPMorgan analysts warned earlier this month that Samsung's annual operating profit could fall by 7% to 12% if management accepts the union's core demands. They estimate that allocating 10% to 15% of operating profit as performance bonuses and raising base salaries by 5% would generate KRW 21 trillion to KRW 39 trillion ($14.3 billion to $26.5 billion) in additional labor costs above current projections. A separate production-disruption scenario put the potential sales hit from the 18-day walkout at around KRW 4 trillion.

The stakes have grown considerably since Samsung's first-ever strike in 2024, when the union had about 32,000 members and only around 15% of them participated. A one-day strike in April offered a glimpse of what a full stoppage could look like: Samsung's memory fab output fell 18% on the affected night shift, and its contract foundry output dropped 58%.

In essence, the ongoing dispute centers around the union’s demand that Samsung uncap performance payouts and set them at 15% of operating profit. Market analysts project Samsung's 2026 operating profit at roughly KRW 300 trillion, which would translate to per-employee bonuses approaching KRW 600 million ($408,000) in the semiconductor division under the union's formula. Management has offered what it describes as industry-leading compensation but has refused to permanently remove the cap, and workers have rejected a counteroffer of a $340,000 one-time bonus. A recent report that SK hynix workers can expect guaranteed bonuses of $477,000 this year and almost $900,000 next year has also brought worker compensation into sharp focus.

The negotiations are further strained by fractures within Samsung's own workforce, with about 80% of the Super Enterprise Union's Samsung branch coming from the Device Solutions semiconductor division, per Digitimes, and its bargaining priorities reflect that, with the union focusing its negotiations with management on bonus demands for that division.

Meanwhile, workers in Samsung's DX division, which covers smartphones, TVs, and home appliances, have pushed for companywide profit-sharing to be included in the talks. More than 2,500 members recently left Samsung's largest union, objecting to what they viewed as memory-focused demands that offered little to employees outside the chip business.

Union head Choi Seung-ho told the Korea Herald last month that roughly 200 Samsung engineers had left for rival SK hynix over the preceding four months, calling the departures evidence that Samsung's compensation structure is failing to retain critical talent during the AI memory boom.

Negotiations between the National Samsung Electronics Union, which represents workers in the company’s chipmaking division, and management have seemingly broken down over a single issue. According to the Financial Times, the two sides are close to agreeing on an allocation of 13% of operating profit, which works out to be roughly $340,000 USD per employee, as a bonus to the workers. However, company management is only willing to give this as a one-time offer, while the union wants the allocation to be guaranteed annually and included in the agreement that the two sides will sign.

The issue about the bonus was brought to national attention when more than 30,000 Samsung workers took to the streets in late April to demand a bigger slice of the profits that Samsung is making from the AI infrastructure buildout. This demand stemmed from a comparison with SK hynix workers, who were guaranteed bonuses of $477,000 each this year, and almost doubled to $900,000 next year. Furthermore, these bonuses are guaranteed for the next ten years. The massive amount stemmed from the windfall that the memory and storage chip manufacturer is making from the AI infrastructure build-out, with AI data centers and hyperscalers willing to pay a premium just to secure the chips they need.

The workers argue that even though Samsung is much larger, their bonuses only equate to less than 30% than what SK hynix offers to its people. Their initial demand was a 15% cut in the semiconductor fab’s operating profit, a removal of the 50% bonus cap, and a 7% wage hike, while management countered with a 10% allocation, a 6.2% pay increase, and other benefits like preferential mortgage rates. It seems that the two sides have finally settled on the 13% bonus allocation, and the only question remaining is whether management will agree to a guaranteed annual bonus.

Samsung is facing the threat of a massive strike if the two parties fail to come to an agreement. The union said that it will conduct a general strike from May 21 to June 7 — meaning Samsung’s chip fab operations will be crippled for at least 18 days. It should be noted that the single-day action in April resulted in a 58% drop in production for just a single shift. Prof. Kwon Seok-joon of Sungkyunkwan University told the Financial Times that an action like this could cost Samsung somewhere between $6.9 billion and $11.7 billion in direct losses, with an even larger amount in indirect costs. Furthermore, it will damage Samsung’s reputation as a supplier for HBM4 chips, especially with the tight competition between the three major memory and storage chip manufacturers.

Kwon also noted that it’s harder for Samsung to just grant the bonus, even if it comes from operating profits and not revenue. Unlike SK hynix, which is a standalone fab, Samsung’s semiconductor fab operates under the larger Samsung Electronics company, which itself is part of the larger Samsung Group. Other arms of the company are said to be struggling because of the higher costs brought about by the chip shortage, even as the semiconductor division is making record profits.

If the fab workers get their desired bonus, workers from less profitable divisions might feel that they’re being short-changed. Because of this, a smaller union, whose members mostly come from Samsung’s smartphone, TV, and home appliances lines, has reportedly pulled out of the planned joint strike. Should management grant the semiconductor division’s demand for a bonus allocation of 15% of operating profits, Kwon told FT that “the maths gets uncomfortable fast.”

Apple is reportedly talking with Intel and Samsung to produce processors for the company as it’s grappling with a shortage of chips for its latest products. According to Bloomberg, Cupertino has had multiple early-stage discussions with Team Blue, while some key Apple executives have also visited a Samsung plant that’s still in development — likely its Taylor, Texas, fab, which is set to start risk production this year.

None of the talks have resulted in any orders, so far, the report states. There have been concerns about using non-TSMC tech in Apple products, especially as it has been producing chips for the iPhone since the A8 used in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. However, the AI infrastructure build-out is negatively affecting the company, with Apple CEO Tim Cook conceding that it’s constrained by TSMC’s supply of advanced chips. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said that his company has dethroned the consumer electronics giant as TSMC’s number one customer, and even alluded that Apple might have to pay more for its chips. But even before this, Cupertino has reportedly been considering using Intel’s 18A process to build future M-series chips, especially as global geopolitical events are threatening the stability of the global supply chain.

If we look at Apple’s history, both Samsung and Intel have closely worked with the company for years. The first iPhone, all the way to the iPhone 5S, was powered by Samsung chips, while Macs and MacBooks used x86 Intel processors from 2006 until they were replaced by Apple silicon in 2023. If successful, these talks would resume Apple’s partnership with one (or both) of the companies.

This would be a win for Intel as it’s looking to land a major customer for its foundry business — something that it fumbled in 2011 when Cupertino first approached it for its custom chip needs. A move like this could also help bolster Samsung’s foundry business, as it sits at a distant second place when compared to TSMC. At the same time, it would reduce Apple’s risk of relying on a single supplier for the majority of its advanced chip supply. Even though TSMC’s Arizona plant is ramping up production and it’s estimated that it will deliver 100 million chips for Cupertino this year, it is just a fraction of Apple’s demands, with the majority of its advanced SoCs still expected to come from Taiwan.

Tim Cook has been well aware of the situation with TSMC for years now. He even said in a 2022 all-hands company meeting, “Regardless of what you may feel or think, 60% coming out of anywhere is probably not a strategic position.” This was likely highlighted with the AI-driven chip shortage. “The primary constraint is the availability of the advanced nodes our SoCs are produced on, not memory,” the Apple CEO said during the company’s latest earnings call. “I believe it will take several months to reach supply-demand balance.”

But even if Apple were to strike a deal with both Intel and Samsung today, it will take some time for production to ramp up, and consumers won’t feel its effect for several months, if not a couple of years.

Samsung’s production numbers reportedly plummeted significantly during a one-day strike by the company’s labor union. According to Seoul Economic Daily, citing union officials, the company’s memory fab output fell by 18% while its contract chip foundry plunged by 58.1%. These numbers only affected the night shift after the April 23 strike, with the “Joint Struggle Headquarters” saying that it will conduct a larger 18-day labor action if company management fails to reach a deal with workers. The union estimates that the walkout, which would last for more than two weeks, will cost the company KRW 30 trillion, or over $20 billion. It also threatened to mobilize personnel assigned to the fabs’ “safety protection facilities.”

The disagreement between the union and management stems from the company’s refusal to allocate 15% of its operating profit as a bonus for its workers, amounting to around $27 billion (about KRW 40 trillion), and would net chip fab workers around $400,000 each. Aside from this, the union also demanded a 7% increase in pay and a removal of the 50% bonus cap. The management made a counteroffer of a 10% operating profit bonus, 6.2% wage increase, and preferential mortgage loans, among other benefits, but it seems that this wasn’t enough for the union.

The group pointed out that SK hynix, Samsung’s biggest domestic chip rival, has given its workers a performance bonus amounting to 10% of its annual operating profit and removed the cap on the amount. This means that their bonuses only equate to less than 30% of what the SK hynix workers get, even though Samsung is 60% larger in terms of market capitalization.

Initial estimates from the police suggested that over 30,000 people attended the strike, but the union said that about 40,000 of its members were present in yesterday's action. This is a massive number and is said to represent nearly a third of the company’s semiconductor fab workforce. A general strike lasting several days would cripple operations, reducing Samsung’s advantage of being the first company to mass-produce and deliver HBM4 memory to its customers. It could also potentially exacerbate the global memory chip shortage, resulting in longer delivery times and potentially higher prices for everyone.

Unless the two sides come to an agreement, the union will kick off the general strike on May 21. Supra-Company Union Samsung Electronics chapter head Choi Seung-ho also said that he has submitted a notice to the Seoul Yongsan Police Station that the group will hold a rally in front of the residence of Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong on the same day.

Thousands of Samsung workers took to the streets today outside the company’s main chip fab, demanding a greater share of AI profits. According to the police, some 30,000 people attended the rally in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, more than 30 miles south of Seoul, while organizers claimed that over 39,000 were present. Bloomberg reports that the Samsung labor union wants 15% of the company’s operating profit to be shared with chip-division workers and to remove the 50% bonus cap, as well as a 7% increase in pay. If this bonus is approved, that would amount to $27 billion (more than KRW 40 trillion), averaging more than $400,000 per worker.

However, it seems that this might be a bit too much for Samsung management. It made a counteroffer of a 10% allocation of operating profit to bonuses, a 6.2% wage increase, and additional benefits like preferential mortgage loans. The union has apparently rejected this proposal, pointing out that rival SK hynix has allocated 10% of its annual operating profit for performance bonuses and also removed the maximum bonus limit for its workers. The Samsung workers argue that their bonuses only equate to less than 30% of what comparable SK hynix workers get.

While Samsung has fallen behind its homegrown rival when it came to HBM3 dominance, it has since caught up after it became the first company to deliver next-generation HBM4 chips. “The company has spoken of crisis every year,” Samsung labor union head Choi Seung-ho told the publication. “But in the midst of those crises, it was not management that sustained Samsung Electronics. It was the employees here — the union members — who made the company the world’s leading semiconductor producer, who manufactured, improved processes, worked through the night, and raised yields.”

If the two parties fail to resolve the issue, the union says it will conduct an 18-day general strike starting May 21. This massive number of workers walking out of the posts will cause massive disruption for the company, with TradingKey estimating losses of around US$20.3 billion (around KRW 20 trillion). “Samsung will continue to make efforts to reach a swift agreement in wage negotiations,” a company spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Late last year, 10 former Samsung employees were indicated in a corporate espionage case in which they were accused of leaking critical chipmaking IP to China's CXMT. Today, a South Korean court has found one of the accused guilty. The court sentenced 56-year-old "Jeon" to seven years in prison on charges of violating the region's Industrial Technology Protection Act. The defendant purportedly stole over 600 detailed steps on DRAM manufacturing, according to Reuters.

The court deemed the accused shared information on "core national technology" that caused South Korea potentially trillions in losses — since leaking it gave a head start to CXMT, which consequently ended up debuting 10nm-class HBM2 memory much earlier than expected. Interestingly, the court did consider Jeon's low compensation at Samsung at the time of the crime, calling it a "mitigating factor" when presenting the final sentence.

Estimates put Samsung's R&D costs for 10nm DRAM at around 1.6 trillion KRW ($1.08 billion), spread across five years. Jeon left Samsung to work for CXMT around this time, and was thought to have shared chipmaking secrets via handwritten notes. CXMT was manufacturing 17nm DRAM in 2022 and jumped to 10nm in 2023 — a huge improvement for a fab with otherwise limited access to cutting-edge lithography tools.

The prosecution argued Samsung's stolen IP contributed to CXMT's abrupt growth. This alone would have been enough for an indictment, but the opportunity cost of lost sales (customers opting for CXMT over Samsung) was the final nail in the coffin. Moreover, Jeon received 2.9 billion KRW ($2 million) in exchange for the information he shared with the Chinese company, as well as stock options and other contract incentives.

Recently, HP was reported to be considering Chinese companies to supply memory amidst the growing component shortage. Asus and Dell are also interested in delegating some of their memory needs to China, since the major DRAM manufacturers are all laser-focused on making HBM for AI accelerators. CXMT is part of the "Section 1260H" list of foreign companies suspected of aiding the Chinese military, but it's not banned in the U.S. yet.

The AI chip supercycle is generating such extraordinary profits at South Korea's two largest memory manufacturers that individual employee bonuses at SK hynix could average roughly 700 million won ($477,000) this year, and almost $900,000 next year, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. Samsung Electronics' labor union, meanwhile, has threatened a general strike from May 21st to June 7th after rejecting management's compensation offer.

SK hynix agreed last September to remove its previous bonus cap and allocate 10% of annual operating profit directly to employees as performance-based payouts. With analyst forecasts of some 250 trillion won ($169 billion) in operating profit for 2026, the resulting bonus pool of 25 trillion won would be split among roughly 35,000 workers. It’s understood that the company already paid profit-sharing bonuses averaging about 140 million won (roughly $95,000) per employee in February.

At Samsung, things aren’t looking quite so rosy, as disputes rage on surrounding what percentage of earnings should flow to workers. The company’s union is pushing for 15% of operating profit, which market analysts project will reach roughly 298 trillion won ($202 billion) this year. At that level, the semiconductor division alone would owe approximately 580 million won (~$396,000) per employee across its 77,000-person workforce.

Samsung management countered with a 10% allocation matching SK’s framework, but that proposal was rejected, with the union instead opting to plan a large rally at the company’s Pyeongtaek fab scheduled for April 23rd. Samsung Electronics asked a court last Thursday to block what it called “illegal activities” during a strike. Union chairman Choi Seung-ho says that roughly 200 employees have left for SK hynix over the last four months, according to the Korea Herald.

The scale of these payouts marks a huge reversal of what we’ve seen in recent years. In 2024, Samsung paid no performance bonuses at all after the chip unit posted operating losses throughout 2023’s memory downturn, while SK’s own bonus rate collapsed during the same period. The turnaround has obviously been driven almost entirely by surging demand for HBM and other AI-oriented memory products.

This potential windfall for SK and Samsung employees has sparked unusual public backlash in South Korea, with posts on the anonymous workplace forum Blind arguing that companies benefiting from state infrastructure spending and the K-Chips Act’s 20% tax credits should share their profits more broadly. The combined tax benefits received by both companies over the last two years total an estimated 20 trillion won, which is roughly $13.6 billion.

Looking ahead, the potential bonuses could climb higher still, with investment bank Macquarie having forecasted SK’s operating profit at 447 trillion won ($304.5 billion) for next year, which would push average employee bonuses beyond 1 billion won under the existing 10% profit-sharing agreement.

Intel this week announced that Shawn 'Seung Hoon' Han will join the company as senior vice president and general manager of Foundry Services, where he will be responsible for working with external customers. Shawn Han will join the company from Samsung Foundry, where he had similar responsibilities, and will bring decades of valuable experience at a contract chipmaker, something that Intel Foundry needs these days.

"I am excited to welcome Shawn Han to our leadership team," wrote Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president and the head of Intel Foundry, in a LinkedIn post. "Shawn will be joining us in May as senior vice president and general manager of Foundry Services, reporting to me. Shawn brings valuable expertise in the semiconductor industry from his three decades at Samsung, including most recently overseeing sales at Samsung Foundry. He also offers impressive technical acumen from his work on multiple logic process nodes beginning in 1996."

As the head of Foundry Services — a structure within Intel Foundry responsible for working with customers in general and external customers specifically — Shawn Han will be responsible for sales and customer relations, which includes landing external customers. More recently, Shawn Han served as executive vice president of Samsung Foundry, which he joined from Samsung Semiconductor in 2021.

Shawn Han will become the highest-ranking executive focused on foundry customer engagement that Intel has hired to date. While the company has traditionally hired leaders focused on product or process technology development, Han has spent the last five years specifically on customer-facing roles.

The hire indicates that Intel Foundry understands its next bottleneck is not just process technology, but customer acquisition, trust, and long-term relationships. While Intel Foundry may have a great value and technology proposition with 18A, 14A, EMIB, and Foveros, external foundry customers do not sign multi-year deals because the node deck looks good, but because they believe Intel Foundry can behave like a real contract chipmaker offering predictable PDKs, realistic timelines, predictable yields, sufficient capacity, and responsive support. Hiring someone who has already lived in a customer-centric foundry world is a good way to achieve that trust and relationships with customers. At the end of the day, Intel yet has to persuade its potential customers that Intel Foundry can offer the same discipline, neutrality, and customer obsession that pure-play foundries have in their blood.

The timing of the hire seems to be right, too. Intel has been trying to land customers with its 18A, 18A-P,14A nodes, and advanced packaging for a while now, and while the company continues to say that the interest towards its process technology is high, interest is not the same thing as booked wafer volume. Therefore, one of Han's main tasks will be converting technical curiosity into committed business.

For sure, Shawn Han's knowledge of potential customers' needs as well as his personal relationships with Samsung Foundry customers will be added bonuses to Intel's Foundry Services. Kevin O'Buckley, the previous head of Foundry Services, left for Qualcomm in late February.

The Samsung Odyssey OLED G9 is a highly recommended OLED monitor for adding a premium ultrawide display to your setup. Currently, the G91SD model, which was introduced in mid-2024 with an MSRP of $1,299.99, is down to its lowest price of $799.99 on Amazon. Additionally, the monitor comes with a free game code for Resident Evil Requiem.

• Check out the Samsung Odyssey G9 G91SD deal on Amazon

The Odyssey G9 features a 49-inch 1800R curved QD-OLED display, with a 32:9 aspect ratio and a sharp resolution of 5,120 x 1,440 pixels. It comes in a premium thin metal design with an RGB LED ring at the back that can be fully customized.

For gamers, the monitor offers premium features, including a 144 Hz refresh rate, an excellent response time of 0.03 ms (GtG), and support for AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia G-Sync, resulting in a smooth and responsive experience. The OLED panel supports DisplayHDR True Black 400, offering vivid colors and deep blacks. It is important to note that you will need a powerful graphics card to drive the monitor to its full potential.

Apart from gaming, the Odyssey G9 should serve well as a productivity monitor, thanks to its massive screen real estate, which lets you open multiple apps and windows at once. The monitor even supports Picture-by-Picture (PBP) mode, which splits the screen in half, allowing you to use two inputs at their native resolutions. In terms of connectivity, the monitor comes with an HDMI 2.1 port, a DisplayPort 1.4 port, a micro HDMI 2.1 port, and a USB hub.

At $799.99 on Amazon, the Odyssey OLED G9 is a solid time to jump in if you already have a high-end GPU to take full advantage of its resolution and refresh rate.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and since the Samsung 990 Pro is one of the best SSDs, it's easy to see why there are so many clones of the PCIe 4.0 drive on the market. Japanese news outlet Akiba PC Hotline! recently examined one of the latest fake Samsung 990 Pro drives, and the quality behind the clone is both impressive and frightening at the same time.

The box is the very first thing that catches your eye when you buy any product, and SSD counterfeiters are aware of this. They have poured more time and resources into perfecting the package to deceive even the most experienced customers. As highlighted in the Japanese publication, the box for the counterfeit SSD can be almost indistinguishable from that of the genuine drive. One subtle giveaway was that the fake box includes a header for hanging on display racks, a detail the original lacks. It’s a small detail that's easy to miss unless you’ve seen the authentic packaging before.

The fake Samsung 990 Pro features a sticker that closely mimics the original. This is where the technical know-how comes into play. The drive may look authentic on the surface, but a closer inspection reveals drastic discrepancies. For starters, the Samsung 990 Pro leverages the brand's proprietary Pascal SSD controller. The fake uses the Maxio MAP1602 SSD controller, which has a different design and is smaller than the Pascal controller. Tellingly, the rear of the counterfeit SSD even openly states the Maxio model number.

Another key distinction lies in DRAM and NAND. The Samsung 990 Pro features LPDDR4 memory, a component absent from the fake due to the DRAM-less nature of the Maxio MAP1602 SSD controller. As for the NAND, the original uses Samsung’s 176-Layer V-NAND TLC flash, while the type in the counterfeit remains uncertain. It’s likely QLC, though, since counterfeiters won't spend extra on TLC for a product whose primary purpose is to bamboozle the buyer.

Fake Samsung 990 Pro SSD Benchmarks

Typical Samsung 990 Pro lookalikes fall flat when you benchmark them. Some fakes are slower than a USB 2.0 pendrive, while others perform similarly to a PCIe 3.0 SSD. However, the one that Akiba PC Hotline! had in its possession exhibited a solid, very convincing performance. The drive delivered sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,255 MB/s and 6,090 MB/s, respectively, just a bit shy of the Samsung 990 Pro 1TB's rated speeds of 7,450 MB/s and 6,900 MB/s.

If you compare the specifications between the Maxio MAP1602 and the Samsung Pascal, it's evident that the former isn't too far behind in sequential performance. That's likely the reason why counterfeiters specifically choose the Maxio MAP1602. They know that the typical user is unlikely to look beyond the sequential performance numbers. However, the random performance is more pronounced if you look closely, specifically in the random 4K test using 32 queues and 16 threads, where the Maxio MAP1602 delivered just over half the performance of the Samsung Pascal.

Akiba PC Hotline! submitted the Samsung 990 Pro 1TB clone to the H2testw utility and confirmed that the reported capacity was indeed 1TB. At least on paper, the drive wasn’t lying about its size. A 976.6GB write test stretched out to around two hours, with the drive only managing a sluggish 132 MB/s. In a real-world scenario, the genuine Samsung 990 Pro completed the transfer of a 397.2GB video file in just 3 minutes and 33 seconds (1,861 MB/s), while the clone crawled along, taking a staggering 25 minutes and 20 seconds (261 MB/s) to complete the same task. The real drive maintained a sustained write speed of around 1,500 MB/; once the SLC cache was full, the fake drive stuck to 100 MB/s.

The best way to weed out clones from the real ones with Samsung SSDs is to use the Samsung Magician software to authenticate the drive. Furthermore, it doesn't allow you to use the software's features, such as the diagnostic scan and performance optimization, on fake drives.

Spotting Samsung clones has become routine for every generation of Samsung SSDs. Previously, we saw many Samsung 980 Evo and Samsung 980 Pro clones. Some entrepreneurs even invented SSDs that even Samsung didn't know were in its lineup, such as the Samsung 1080 Pro. The takeaway from all this is always to purchase your Samsung SSDs from trusted, reputable retailers. Even if your new drive passes the sniff test, run Samsung Magician for that extra peace of mind, as you can see, clones are getting better by the day.

Samsung has silently expanded its 2.5-inch SATA SSD lineup, as a new 8TB storage variant of the 870 EVO has been spotted by ComputerBase. The 8TB SSD with model number MZ-77E8T0B is reportedly available across various retailers in Europe with prices starting at €1,300 (about $1,389.99), which is roughly twice the current price of the 4TB version. Additionally, the report notes that Samsung does not currently list the 8TB model on its own website; however, upon inquiry, the company shared an official data sheet with the outlet.

The 870 EVO series was originally introduced five years ago as the successor to the widely popular 860 EVO. At launch, it was offered in capacities ranging from 500GB to 4TB and had quickly become one of the go-to choices for reliable SATA storage. Although the industry has shifted towards faster NVMe SSDs, the 870 EVO still holds relevance for users who are running older PCs and laptops or for mass storage in NAS setups. In our review, the drive impressed with its consistent performance, solid endurance ratings, and overall efficiency, further backed by Samsung’s five-year warranty.

The newly introduced 8TB variant is expected to deliver similar performance, including sequential read speeds of up to 560 MB/s and write speeds of up to 530 MB/s. According to the official datasheet, the drive continues to use Samsung’s 3-bit MLC (TLC) V-NAND technology, but with an upgraded 8GB LPDDR4 DRAM cache with a slight increase in power consumption. It also features a significantly higher endurance rating of up to 4,800TBW (terabytes written), making it suitable for heavy workloads and long-term usage.

This unexpected introduction is particularly noteworthy, as it comes at a time when NAND and DRAM prices have been at an all-time high due to limited supplies and growing demand primarily from the AI and data center sectors. While the 8TB 870 EVO will likely cater to a niche audience, it shows that even older SATA platforms are still relevant, offering higher capacities for users who prioritize storage over raw speed. We haven’t spotted the 8TB SSD at any major U.S. retailers yet, but we’ll update this article with a purchase link as soon as it becomes available.

In early February, reports of Samsung laptops, Galaxy Book4 devices in particular, affected by a weird storage issue started to pop up. Users were seeing error messages on their laptops saying "C:\ is not accessible," locking them out of their system's main drive. At first, this felt like a Windows Update problem since the timing coincidentally aligned with one, but deeper investigation revealed otherwise.

Microsoft and Samsung both came to the conclusion that the Galaxy Connect app that comes preinstalled in these devices was the culprit. The app is used to share or mirror your display to Samsung Galaxy phones, but apparently it interacted with Windows in a way that forced the OS to revoke permissions in the background. The exact details of what went wrong weren't disclosed.

But we do know that it would become impossible to access the drive once you faced the issue. You'd also be prevented from opening Office apps, system tools, web browsers, Quick Assist, and more that was stored on the C: drive. Administrative tasks or any other specific user operations might be affected, too, and users weren't able to uninstall updates or collect logs due to permission failures.

Around the same time, the February 2026 security update for Windows 11 had come out, leading some to believe it must've broken something, but that's not the case. Reports of this issue actually began emerging before the patch rolled out. Since the problem was discovered, Microsoft already logged it as a known issue on its website around ten days ago, and by March 16, it was marked as "externally resolved."

Microsoft has published a full recovery article for affected users that includes detailed steps to gain back control of your C: drive. To ensure something like this doesn't happen again, the company also pulled the Galaxy Connect app off the Microsoft Store and Samsung, and in the meantime, replaced it with an older version that's not broken. So, at the moment, only those already affected need to take action.

AMD and Samsung this week signed a rather unprecedented memorandum of understanding (MOU) that involves the strategic supply of memory for AMD's next-generation EPYC and Instinct MI455X products, as well as discussions of a potential foundry partnership. The MOU aims to ensure that AMD gets enough memory for its next-generation CPU and AI accelerator products throughout their life span, whereas Samsung will get a chance to serve as a foundry for a leading supplier of CPUs, AI GPUs, and other products.

Samsung has been the primary supplier of HBM3E for AMD's Instinct MI350X and MI355X AI accelerators, so it is not surprising that the core of the new agreement is Samsung’s role as a primary supplier of HBM4 memory for AMD's upcoming Instinct MI455X accelerator. As demand for all types of memory in general and HBM4 in particular exceeds supply, AMD must ensure that its next-generation MI455X accelerator (and possibly other Instinct MI400-series products) gets enough memory.

AMD's Instinct MI455X is projected to use 12 HBM4 12-Hi memory stacks for a total of 432 GB. Given such demands, it makes great sense for AMD to sign a strategic memory supply deal, though for now the two companies limited themselves to the MOU. Meanwhile, Samsung said that its HBM4 memory stacks are based on memory devices produced using its 1c (6^th Generation 10nm-class) process technology and use a base die made on a 4nm-class logic process, which enables them to achieve a rather unprecedented data transfer rate of 13 GT/s (thus provide up to 3.3 TB/s of bandwidth per stack), which is well above JEDEC's recommended 8 GT/s for HBM4. Yet, memory speeds supported by Instinct MI455X are considerably slower.

In addition to HBM4, the MOU between the two companies also includes DDR5 supply for AMD's 6^th Generation EPYC processors codenamed 'Venice,' as well as AMD's Helios rack-scale systems for AI data centers that rely on EPYC 'Venice' and Instinct MI455X. Again, the move aims to ensure a steady memory supply for next-generation AI systems running AMD's CPUs and AI accelerators to ensure a competitive position against Nvidia's Rubin-powered machines.

Perhaps the most intriguing part of the announcement is that the MOU can open the door for a potential foundry relationship, under which Samsung could manufacture future AMD products. While no specific nodes or chips were disclosed, this signals a willingness to expand cooperation into logic production alongside memory supply. To put this into context, AMD has been drifting away from GlobalFoundries since late 2018, and by now virtually all of its advanced products are made at TSMC. Shifting certain advanced production to Samsung is costly, though if this ensures that the South Korean company will provide much-needed memory to support AMD's AI efforts, then it looks like the developer of EPYC CPUs and Instinct accelerators may be willing to adopt a dual-source foundry strategy and make at least some of its products at Samsung Foundry.

"Samsung and AMD share a commitment to advancing AI computing, and this agreement reflects the growing scope of our collaboration," said Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman & CEO of Samsung Electronics. "From industry-leading HBM4 and next-generation memory architectures to cutting-edge foundry and advanced packaging, Samsung is uniquely positioned to deliver unrivaled turnkey capabilities that support AMD’s evolving AI roadmap."

An unusual new bug that prevents Windows 11 users from accessing their main C: drive on Samsung devices has been identified following a recent system update. A preliminary investigation by Microsoft and Samsung has placed the blame on a Samsung-specific app, rather than an issue with the Windows 11 update itself.

The message “C:\ is not accessible – Access denied” became visible when trying to launch apps or access files on affected devices after installing February 2026 security updates (KB5077181) on certain Samsung devices, including some Galaxy Book 4 laptops and Samsung Desktop models, according to Microsoft in a notice posted online.

The notice confirms that the issue prevents users from launching certain apps, “including Outlook, Office apps, web browsers, system utilities, and Quick Assist.” The report also notes that affected users are unable to access files on the C: drive or perform some administrative tasks. It also prevents users, in some cases, from removing updates, accessing certain system logs, or elevating their user access privileges.

Microsoft confirms that an investigation of the reports, alongside Samsung, identified an issue with the Samsung Galaxy Connect app. The app itself has been removed temporarily from the Microsoft Store, while Samsung has rolled back to a previous version of the app to stop it from appearing on other devices.

Unfortunately, Microsoft also confirms that “recovery for devices already impacted remains limited,” but the company is working with Samsung to “develop and validate solutions” for those who face problems.

No further information is available at the moment, although reports on Reddit suggest the problem relates to broken Access Control Lists in Samsung’s factory image for Windows that trigger when the Samsung Galaxy Connect and Galaxy Share Folder apps are updated. The same Reddit post in the r/sysadmin subreddit also suggests some potential workarounds, although these haven’t been tested or verified by Microsoft, and require some extensive changes to your drive permissions that change the ownership of your entire drive, which isn’t recommended in the long term.

If you’re running one of these devices, including models NP750XGJ, NP750XGL, NP754XGJ, NP754XFG, NP754XGK, DM500SGA, DM500TDA, DM500TGA, and DM501SGA, you may want to remove the affected app from your device or roll back to the currently recommended version as soon as possible. Should your device be affected by a loss of access to your files, however, you’ll have to hold tight for an official solution.

IDC on Thursday sharply slashed its expectations for the PC and tablet markets, citing memory shortages, rising prices for 3D NAND, DRAM, and other components, and intensifying supply chain disruptions amid the AI sector boom. While unit shipments are expected to decline significantly year-over-year, higher average selling prices (ASPs) are projected to push total market value slightly upward.

The firm now expects global PC shipments to drop 11.3% in 2026 compared to 2025, a steep revision from the -2.4% decline projected in November 2025 and -8.9% in January 2026. In absolute numbers, this means PC sales will decline by 32.17 million units, from 284.7 million in 2025 to 252.53 million in 2026. To put the 32.17 million PC number into context: Apple shipped 25.6 million computers last year compared to 41.1 million systems for Dell.

Tablet volumes are also set to contract, and IDC forecasts shipments to fall 7.6% this year. Last year, vendors shipped 151.9 million tablets (up 5% compared to the previous year), with Apple leading the pack by a significant margin. If the new IDC forecast holds, then this year the market will decline by 11.54 million to 140.36 million systems. To put the number in context, Apple sold 17.1 million iPads in Q4 2025, while Samsung sold just 6.4 million units.

Even though unit shipments of PCs and tablets will decline, IDC expects market revenue to increase due to rising device prices. The firm estimates that the PC market will expand by 1.6% in value to $274 billion in 2026, while the tablet segment will grow by 3.9% to $66.8 billion.

"The era of bargain-priced PCs and tablets is behind us for now, as rising ASPs and component costs shift the market’s balance of power," said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "Memory shortages will persist well into 2027. While we anticipate some easing of prices beginning in 2028, the market is unlikely to return to the pricing levels seen in 2025. Instead, we expect a new normal defined by structurally higher ASPs and a corresponding softening in long-term demand."

IDC noted that, at the time it compiled its forecast, the conflict in the Middle East had not yet escalated to its current level, adding another source of risk for global technology supply chains and economic development. Therefore, the analysts may revise their forecast downwards.

"The overall tech industry, as well as many others, continues to face uncontrollable headwinds that, when compounded, result in massive disruption," said Ryan Reith, group vice president, Devices and Consumer. "The lists of industry and geopolitical events that continue to grow is making decision‑making — and even survival in some sectors — nearly impossible. What has turned all of this from a million‑dollar question into a trillion‑dollar question is the complete uncertainty around when these pressures will subside."

There are plenty of gaming monitors to choose from, but if you are looking for a solid 1440p curved display without blowing your budget, the 27-inch Samsung Odyssey G55C is currently worth a closer look. The monitor has a list price of $299.99, but Amazon is offering a limited-time discount that brings the price down to $229.99. Additionally, there is a $50 discount coupon, which brings the effective cost down to $179.99. While we’ve seen this model dip to $170, it is still a solid deal for a well-rounded QHD gaming monitor from a reputable brand.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

The Samsung Odyssey G55C uses a 1000R curved VA panel with a 2,560 x 1,440 (QHD) resolution, offering a nice balance between image sharpness and GPU requirements. The monitor also features a maximum refresh rate of 165 Hz, which ensures smooth gameplay, and Samsung rates it at 1ms MPRT response time to help reduce motion blur.

On the image quality side, the VA panel delivers a 2500:1 contrast ratio, resulting in deeper blacks than most IPS panels in this price range. Peak brightness is rated at up to 300 nits, which should be adequate for indoor gaming and everyday use. The monitor also supports HDR10, though expectations should be kept in check since it lacks local dimming, which is necessary for a true HDR experience.

The monitor also supports AMD FreeSync, which helps eliminate screen tearing and stuttering, delivering smoother, more responsive gameplay. Connectivity is fairly standard, with DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 2.0, and a 3.5mm audio jack for headphones or external speakers. At its current discounted price, the Odyssey G55C offers a good mix of features, performance, and value for 1440p gamers.

There is no time period specified for the offer, so we are not entirely sure how long it will be available at the discounted price. Make sure you tick on the additional $50 coupon, which is applied during checkout to purchase the monitor for $179.99.

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Sometimes, laptops aren't designed for budget customers, but rather those willing to pay top dollar for design and performance. Samsung’s Galaxy Book6 Ultra (starts at $2,449.99, with US availability not yet specified) fits in the latter category – this 16-inch creator-focused laptop courts those who might otherwise default to a 16-inch MacBook Pro. Final pricing wasn’t available as of this review, but the hardware configuration – the latest Intel “Panther Lake” Core Ultra H-class CPU and an Nvidia “Blackwell” RTX 5070 GPU – signal a flagship laptop. Complemented by a premium metal build and a superb AMOLED touch display, the Galaxy Book6 Ultra is clearly designed to compete at the top of the market.

Design of the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

Once glance at the Galaxy Book6 Ultra justifies Samsung’s reputation for quality and style, and also a strong resemblance to Apple’s MacBook Pro. The gunmetal chassis and contrasting black keyboard deck gives the system a clean, ultramodern aesthetic. The all-metal exterior feels unquestionably solid and shows virtually no flex under pressure. I also noted it showed almost no fingerprints after several days of use. There’s refreshingly minimal branding aside from Samsung’s lettering on the back of the lid and under the screen.

Despite housing a 16-inch display and powerful silicon, the Ultra maintains an impressively slim profile. Measuring 14.01 x 9.77 x 0.46 inches (WDH), it’s 0.2 inches thinner than the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (14.01 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches) and over a pound lighter, at 3.5 pounds versus the Apple’s 4.67 pounds. It also undercuts Dell’s 16 Premium (14.1 x 9.4 x 0.75 inches, 4.65 pounds) on both size and weight.

Connectivity is good for a system this thin. On the left edge, you’ll find two Thunderbolt 4 ports and HDMI 2.1, while the right edge offers USB-A, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and a full-size SD card slot, enough variety that most users shouldn’t need dongles. Wireless support is also up-to-date, with support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 from an Intel BE211 networking card.

Specifications

Productivity Performance on the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

Our Galaxy Book6 Ultra review unit features a Core Ultra 7 356H processor, an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD. This is a potent configuration for demanding tasks, especially content creation. Though this isn't a gaming laptop, the dedicated Nvidia GPU is also capable of some play.

For performance comparisons, we included the Apple MacBook Pro 16-Inch ($3,649 as tested) running the M4 Pro processor, the Dell 16 Premium ($2,799) featuring a Core Ultra 7 255H, and the Framework Laptop 16 ($2,396) with a Ryzen AI 7 350. These laptops all fit in the same class, though the MacBook ought to have the strongest CPU.

In the cross-platform Geekbench CPU test, the Samsung had the best overall showing among the Windows laptops, with 16,655 points in multi-core to practically tie the Dell (16,850) and lead the Framework (12,399). None challenged the MacBook’s commanding 22,822 points in multi-core, and it also dominated single-core, with 3,910 points to Samsung’s 2,852.

The situation improved for the Samsung in the Handbrake 4K-to-1080p video transcoding test, where it finished in just 3 minutes and 18 seconds, outpacing the Dell by 32 seconds. The MacBook again commanded the lead, with 2 minutes and 38 seconds.

In our 25GB file transfer test, Samsung was at the middle of the pack at a rate of 1,467.5 MBps, ahead of the Dell’s 1,080 MBps but trailing the Framework (1,725 MBps) and the MacBook (2,237.5 MBps).

To stress-test productivity laptops, we run 10 loops of Cinebench 2024. During the test, scores ranged between 1,212 and 1,221 points, an exceptionally tight range suggesting consistent performance for long-running CPU workloads.

Display on the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

What really makes this system a stunner is its AMOLED screen. With a 2880 x 1800 resolution, touch support, and 120 Hz refresh rate, it’s truly remarkable for any kind of content, particularly colorful media. Watching Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, I felt immersed by the strong contrast in space scenes, bright flashes of lightsabers and blaster bolts, and the vibrancy of Endor’s forests. I even fired up Borderlands II for a little gaming action, admiring the smooth picture courtesy of the high refresh rate. It’s truly a first-rate picture.

Display measurements confirm the Galaxy Book6 Ultra’s visual excellence, with 121.2% of sRGB color and 85.8% coverage of DCI-P3. Framework’s system had higher DCI-P3 coverage, but it wasn’t quite as bright, which is important considering Framework uses IPS while Samsung uses AMOLED, a technology that has historically trailed IPS in peak luminance. The Dell is the only other system using OLED, yet it falls well short in brightness at 367 nits versus Samsung’s 451 nits. The Galaxy Book6 Ultra not only outperforms its OLED peer but raises the bar for this type of panel.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

Samsung’s black keyboard contrasts nicely against the gunmetal gray palm rest, with three-level white backlighting for a professional look. The typing experience, however, doesn’t live up to the aesthetics. Shallow key travel and the resulting limited tactile feel makes it hard to build confidence while typing. I normally average between 115-120 words per minute and near-perfect accuracy in the MonkeyType typing test, but I only managed 102 wpm and 95% accuracy on this keyboard after several tries. Granted, my muscle memory would probably compensate over time, but it doesn’t compete with my daily-driver ThinkPad for responsiveness or assurance.

At least the keyboard layout is sensible, with arrow keys that are all the same size and no oddball key placements. The absence of dedicated home, end, page up, and page down keys is a downer, but not a dealbreaker since they are available pressing Fn + arrow keys.

Samsung fared better with the touchpad. Its massive size (5.9 x 4.1 inches) and smooth surface feel luxurious, making sweeping multi-figure gestures effortless. I thought the haptic feedback felt too light at first, but it can be adjusted for more intensity in the Windows Settings app > Bluetooth & Devices > Touchpad. It felt more responsive after I switched to Light click force and upped the click intensity.

Audio on the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

Though the grilles on either side of the Galaxy Book6 Ultra’s keyboard the actual speakers face downward under either side. Provided the laptop is on a solid surface, this setup produces remarkably full sound. Watching the F1 movie, I was taken by the fullness of the voices, convincing surround-sound effects when cars drove by, and the impactful bass. Music was equally impressive, with a wider soundstage than I expected and plenty of volume to entertain a few people sitting around the laptop to watch at once.

The key to the speakers sounding their best is the Dolby Access app, which provides Atmos effects. The usual music, movie, and game presets are present, but Dynamic mode unlocks the best sound and provides much more volume than the other equalizers.

Upgradeability of the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

User-upgradeable components in the Galaxy Book6 Ultra include the storage and battery, but most other components are soldered. The screw-free bottom suggests there’s no way to get inside, but Philips-head screws are hidden behind the rubber feet. I used a plastic toothpick to get leverage, then popped them off. The feet are secured by threads rather than adhesive, and are easily pressed back in. Note the front feet are shorter than the rear feet.

With the screws removed, I used a plastic trim tool to go in the speaker outlets and pry around the edges of the chassis, popping the clips free with minimal effort. Once I had worked my way to the rear corners, a lip along the rear edge allowed me to pry against the display hinge and pop all the clips there, at which point the entire panel came free.

Inside, the storage slots are below the battery. The main M.2 2280 slot is beneath a heatshield while the other extends to its right. Overall, there’s not a lot of upgradeability here, but it’s not uncommon these days for most components to be soldered.

Battery Life on the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

In our battery test, which includes web browsing, video streaming over Wi-Fi, and OpenGL workloads at 150 nits, the Galaxy Book6 Ultra lasted a respectable 15 hours and 21 minutes. While that doesn’t come close to matching the MacBook Pro’s 21-plus hours, it more than satisfies for all-day use. The Dell 16 Premium (7:15) and Framework Laptop 16 (8:20) barely managed half the Samsung’s runtime.

Heat on the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

The Galaxy Book6 Ultra uses a two-fan cooling system with airflow against the display hinge. It’s effective: during our Cinebench stress testing, which lasted almost an hour, surface temperatures peaked at 92 degrees Fahrenheit between the keyboard G and H keys, 83 F on the touchpad, and 103 F on the bottom panel. Internally, the Core Ultra 7 356H averaged 84 degrees C.

The fans operate quietly, with only the sound of air escaping through the vents and no motor noise or whine. While playing Borderlands II, the laptop’s speakers easily overpowered the fans and allowed me to hear small details, like footsteps.

Webcam on the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

The Galaxy Book6 Ultra’s webcam is properly placed over the center of the display but doesn’t stand out in visual quality. The soft-focus picture doesn’t look that sharp and tends to blow out highlights, with fuzzy details. There’s also noticeable grain in low-light situations. Its 1920 x 1080 resolution is the minimum expected on anything not considered a budget laptop; on one this expensive, a 1440p sensor would have been better. There’s no privacy shutter, but the webcam can be electronically disabled pressing Fn + F11.

There is no IR sensor for the camera for facial recognition, though. There’s a fingerprint reader built into the power button at the keyboard’s top right.

Software and Warranty on the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

Minimal software is included on the Galaxy Book6 Ultra beyond the usual smattering of Windows 11 default apps. The Galaxy Book Experience app is a generic app for launching other apps, most Samsung-centric. For instance, Multi Control lets you control your Galaxy phone or tablet from your PC, including file sharing. There’s also a nearby device app that lets you find other devices nearby, such as TVs, and share content.

I stumbled through Galaxy Book Experience for a while before finding the Samsung Settings app, which has Galaxy Book6 Ultra-specific settings. Display settings allow you to turn HDR on and off, automatic color temperature control, and a focus mode that darkens areas outside of your current window, a unique setting for OLED displays. There are also preferences, such as automatically starting the laptop when the display is opened or the charger connected, keyboard backlighting timeout, and a battery protection mode to limit charge to 80%. Tinkerers can also experiment with the laptop’s performance mode: Quiet minimizes fan noise at the expense of performance while High Performance results in higher fan noise, with a toggle for maximum fan speed.

Samsung backs the Galaxy Book6 Ultra with a one-year warranty.

Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra Configurations

We reviewed the Galaxy Book6 Ultra with a 2880 x 1880 OLED touch display, Core Ultra 7 356H processor, GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB SSD. Availability isn’t certain yet, but this model’s projected price is $3,199.99.

Samsung’s international press release suggests that other models starting at $2,449.99 will be available with other “Panther Lake” CPUs, including the Core Ultra X7 and X9 chips featuring powerful Arc integrated graphics, as well as RTX 5060 models. Memory scales between 16GB and 64GB and storage between 512GB and 2TB. The OLED screen is standard across all models.

Samsung’s pricing comes on the lower side of Apple’s MacBook Pro 16-inch, which starts at $2,499. Adding the nano-texture display, the M4 Max chip with its upgraded GPU cores, and 36GB of RAM brings it to $3,649, and doubling the storage to 2TB brings it to $4,049. While that doesn’t make the Ultra a bargain, it isn’t outlandishly expensive.

Bottom Line

Samsung’s Galaxy Book6 Ultra makes an impressive statement. Premium design, top-tier quality, strong performance, and vibrant visuals coalesce for an elite computing experience. It’s a natural choice for those who gravitate towards a 16-inch MacBook Pro but prefer Windows or use software that only works on Microsoft's operating system. Though we didn’t have pricing when we did this review, it’s safe to say it will be priced to match what it’s offering. We’d like more communicative keyboard feedback the next time around, but otherwise, there’s very little not to love here.

Correction March 13, 2026: This review originally stated in the specs that the laptop had an IR webcam. It does not. The only biometrics are the fingerprint reader. We regret the error.

OLED gaming monitors are considerably cheaper than what they were a few years ago, and if you have been waiting for the right time to upgrade, the Samsung Odyssey OLED G5 G50SF is currently on sale for President’s Day. Launched late last year with an MSRP of $549.99, the Odyssey OLED G5 G50SF is now available on Amazon for $349.99. That’s a significant discount of 36% making it a compelling option for anyone looking to dip their toes into the world of OLED monitors.

The Odyssey OLED G50SF features a QD-OLED panel measuring 27-inches with a QHD resolution of 2560×1440, which is currently the sweet spot for PC gaming. It supports up to a 180 Hz refresh rate via DisplayPort and 144 Hz through HDMI. Samsung claims that the display offers a response time of 0.03ms (GTG), essentially offering smooth and responsive visuals during fast action. With G-Sync compatibility and support for AMD FreeSync, expect zero screen lag and image tearing.

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The panel covers 99% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and supports HDR10 meaning that you get deep blacks, bright highlights, and vivid colors. The QD-OLED display is also Pantone validated to accurately reproduce 2100+ colors and 110+ SkinTone shades.

Samsung has also added several useful features to the monitor including a special glare free film that is 54% less glossy than conventional anti reflection film to reduce reflections. To protect the OLED panel from potential burn-in Samsung has also implemented several safeguards including Thermal Modulation System that can automatically control brightness and prevent overheating, logo and taskbar detection, and a screen saver option which automatically dims the panel after 10 minutes of inactivity.

In terms of connectivity, the Odyssey OLED G50S includes a DisplayPort 1.2, an HDMI 2.0 port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The included desk stand is not the best as it doesn’t offer a lot of adjustments, but you can wall-mount it or use a monitor arm as it supports 100×100 VESA standard mounting interface.

With its current discounted price of $349.99, the Samsung Odyssey OLED G5 G50SF undercuts its original $549.99 launch price by a wide margin, making it a viable choice to jump into OLED gaming without paying a premium.

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MicroSD cards remain relevant in 2026, offering a highly portable and practical way to expand storage across a wide range of devices, including cameras, drones, handheld consoles, and more. That said, if you are after the fastest possible data transfer speeds, say for your Nintendo Switch 2, it’s worth looking at microSD Express cards which use PCIe and NVMe protocols to deliver speeds of 800MB/s and above. One such option is the Samsung P9 Express microSD card, which is available at a discount this President's Day on Amazon. The 512GB variant is currently priced at $79.99, down from $119.99, while the 256GB model is selling for $47.99, reduced from its original price of $54.99.

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Offering maximum sequential read speeds of up to 800MB/s, the Samsung P9 Express is up to four times faster than conventional UHS-I microSD cards. The P9 Express also supports Host Memory Buffer (HMB) which essentially utilizes your device’s system memory to improve data transfer speeds while Dynamic Thermal Guard (DTG) technology can monitor and regulate the card’s temperature to prevent overheating and maintain consistent performance.

According to Samsung, the card is also highly durable, offering protection against water immersion, extreme temperatures, X-ray exposure, magnetic fields, accidental drops and wear out. With that, the company offers a 3-year limited warranty and support for Samsung’s Magician software that can be used to monitor the card’s health and check for product authenticity verification.

The Samsung P9 Express is also a recommended choice if you’re buying a microSD card specifically for the Nintendo Switch 2. The Switch 2 is one of the first consoles to officially take advantage of microSD Express cards, thus benefiting from much higher storage speeds than older UHS-I cards. That means that games should load faster and smoother performance with larger and more demanding titles.

With all of the above considered, the Samsung P9 Express is a solid pick if you want fast, future-ready expandable storage for modern devices like the Nintendo Switch 2. With the 512GB model currently selling for $79.99 and the 256GB version priced at $47.99 on Amazon, the ongoing discounts make it an even more attractive upgrade right now.

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Memory pricing cycles are nothing new, but the way it’s being sold is changing. Over the past several months, Samsung and SK hynix have begun moving away from long-term, fixed-price supply contracts, replacing them with shorter agreements and post-settlement pricing mechanisms that allow prices to be adjusted after delivery. Micron is also understood to be following a similar path.

According to reporting cited by DigiTimes, these newer contracts are appearing at the same time as the sharp upswing in DRAM and NAND pricing we’ve been watching unfold with relentless escalation, driven primarily by AI infrastructure demand and constrained supply at advanced nodes. Memory makers are expected to make over $551 billion in revenue in 2026.

Where buyers once locked in prices for six to 12 months at a time with limited scope for renegotiation, suppliers are now favoring contracts measured in quarters or even months, with pricing that’s particularly exposed to market movements, which shifts the risk back onto buyers.

Post-settlement pricing reflects supplier confidence

Under traditional agreements, DRAM and NAND prices are set at the time of signing. Even if spot prices move sharply, quarter renegotiation typically adjusts pricing within a narrow band of roughly 10%. These arrangements gave the market’s largest buyers cost predictability and insulated them from short-term instability.

Post-settlement pricing does the opposite. While products are delivered at the agreed price during the contract term, the final payment is adjusted at the end of the term to reflect prevailing market prices. If prices rise materially — as with DRAM in recent months — customers pay the difference. On the other hand, suppliers absorb the loss if prices fall.

Now, according to industry sources cited by Digitimes, Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron have all signed such contracts, primarily with large North American technology companies. One source noted that, for major customers, securing memory supply has become a higher priority than locking in price certainty, even if that means paying more later. This is nothing more than fundamental supply and demand dynamics that were bound to come into play given the state of the market in recent months.

It’s important to note that these post-settlement pricing arrangements only work if suppliers are confident that prices will remain elevated, because why would they push for them otherwise? The willingness of all the big three memory makers to adopt post-settlement pricing, unfortunately, suggests they are.

Contract lengths shrink alongside price flexibility

Pricing is not all that's changing — contract durations are also getting shorter. Memory buyers, particularly hyperscalers, are understood to have pushed for longer-term agreements to guarantee supply as demand for high-capacity memory accelerates while supply tightens. Suppliers are obviously starting to push back against those terms, opting instead for contracts lasting mere months. DigiTimes, citing Korean-language publication ET News, gave the example of a North American data center operator failing to secure a two-year supply deal from one memory vendor, subsequently sourcing capacity from another supplier under a shorter contract that included post-settlement pricing.

These supplier-favoring terms are expected to persist at least through the second half of the year, when the pace of memory price increases is projected by some analysts to plateau somewhat. Even then, few expect a return to the long, fixed-price contracts that dominated during the initial post-pandemic years, and who's to say that pricing will start to slow down in any case?

The current state of the memory market is without precedent, strangled tighter and tighter with each passing day by the unrelenting demands of an out-of-control AI bubble. While we have seen some levelling off in recent weeks, it’s borderline impossible to make any meaningful predictions in good faith about where memory pricing may or may not be even next month; we can forget about where it might be six months or more from now because there’s simply no telling.

Operating margins now at 40-50%

Recent analysis from ZDNet shows just how favorable this market has become for suppliers. It projects that Samsung and SK hynix could post NAND operating margins of 40-50% for the first half of 2026, levels that would have seemed implausible during the oversupply conditions we saw in 2022 and early 2023. Those margins are predicated not just on higher prices, but disciplined supply management and a willingness to walk away from unfavorable contracts.

ZDNet notes that the industry expects that NAND products will reach record profitability for the first time since 2017, adding that its margins are estimated to have climbed into the 20% range in Q4 2025. NAND prices are expected to rise in stages across Q1 and Q2 of this year, with conservative capital spending continuing to tighten supply and contribute to what is becoming a chronic shortage.

Not all buyers are feeling the effects of this equally, though. Apple is one company that, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, has shifted its memory price negotiations from a six-monthly to quarterly cadence. He expects LPDDR prices to rise in Apple’s first fiscal quarter of 2026, with further increases likely in the following quarter. NAND price increases are expected to be more modest.

Kuo also notes that many smartphone brands are struggling to secure sufficient memory supply even when they’re willing to pay higher prices. Some Chinese vendors have reportedly delayed product launches or reduced hardware specifications as a result. But Apple’s position is different: While higher memory costs could pressure gross margins in the near term, Kuo suggests the iPhone maker is willing to absorb those costs to protect shipment volumes, adding that Apple is considering keeping its starting prices for its planned iPhone 18 lineup largely unchanged.

All these factors together demonstrate that there’s a structural shift taking place in how memory is allocated and sold. The balance of power has moved firmly back toward suppliers, and that’s causing contract terms to adjust accordingly.

This doesn’t mean that prices will rise indefinitely. Memory remains a cyclical, capital-intensive industry, and periods of high profitability tend to attract overinvestment. But the current contract changes suggest that suppliers are prioritizing margin discipline and pricing flexibility over volume stability, and will continue to do so in at least the medium term.

The artificial intelligence supercycle is reshaping the semiconductor and electronics industries, as the scale of the AI infrastructure buildout strains the entire supply chain. While developers of AI accelerators like Nvidia are cashing in on the AI boom, it's memory makers that will earn the most cash, according to estimates from TrendForce. Arguably, this is a result of the different business models and expansion strategies memory makers use compared to foundries, in addition to the behavior of the commodity market.

Demand outstrips supply

The company projects that while global foundry revenue is expected to total $218.7 billion, 3D NAND and DRAM revenue will reach $551.6 billion, which means that the total market for memory is more than twice as large as contract chip production. TrendForce attributes this to structural market changes caused by AI buildouts. The latter creates elevated demand for specific types of memory, creating shortages of all types of memory, and therefore affecting prices across the industry. As a consequence, while the AI industry does not need low-capacity commodity memory devices, they also become substantially more expensive amid tight supply. This creates the perfect conditions for memory makers to capitalize upon.

Indeed, the spot price of a 16 Gb DDR5 chip at DRAMeXchange was $38 on average, with a daily high of $53 and a daily low of $25. By contrast, the very same chip used to cost $4.75 on average just one year ago ($3.70 session low, $6.60 session high). Similar changes occurred to the prices of 3D NAND memory in recent quarters.

Fundamental differences

Just like some other analyst firms, TrendForce calls the AI megatrend a 'supercycle,' indicating its overwhelming ubiquity, which affects multiple industries, and its potential length.

There were two periods in the last few decades when revenue of memory makers grew significantly year-over-year for two years in a row: in 2017 – 2018, when hyperscalers built their vast data centers (+62% in 2017 and +27% in 2018), and in 2020 – 2021, when people increased purchases of PCs amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In both cases, memory makers increased capacity to meet demand and maintain their market share, which caused sharp drops in revenue back in 2019 and 2022.

The foundry industry — which is much more capital-intensive than the 3D NAND or DRAM industries — uses fabs that are harder and longer to build, and only suffered a year-over-year revenue decline in 2023.

The situation today is vastly different. On the one hand, leading developers of frontier AI models need the most powerful clusters to train their models, therefore creating demand for leading-edge hardware with expensive HBM3E memory and plenty of storage. On the other hand, these companies and their clients need more powerful inference systems to use those models. Therefore, demand for CPUs, AI accelerators, memory, and storage does not decline over time. Meanwhile, buyers like cloud service providers (CSPs) tend to be less sensitive to price increases, which is why 3D NAND and DRAM suppliers are expected to raise average selling prices more aggressively than in the past cycles.

Foundry vs. Commodity

3D NAND and DRAM are commodities, so their prices behave like prices of commodities, almost immediately reacting to tightening supply, increasing demand, or sentiment among buyers. While large PC makers purchase their memory at prices agreed upon every six months, a significant portion of memory is sold on the spot market.

This dynamic is reflected in TrendForce's projections that show memory revenue growth accelerating after the downturn of 2022 – 2023, including an expected 80% increase in 2024, followed by 46% growth in 2025, and a projected 134% surge in 2026.

By contrast, foundries tend to operate under long-term agreements that smooth price fluctuations, which prevents sharp swings that characterize memory markets. Even during periods of strong demand, foundry pricing adjustments occur gradually, which means slower revenue growth compared to memory vendors.

TrendForce models that following a 19% year-over-year revenue increase in 2024, the foundry market grew 25% in 2025 and will grow another 25% this year.

As a result, boosted by the AI supercycle and not constrained by long-term agreements, memory vendors will earn more than two times more this year alone compared to producers of logic, which have to adhere to their long-term contracts.

The biggest question

With HBM4 memory devices using four times more silicon than typical DRAM ICs, it is obvious that memory makers cannot meet all the demand that exists because of insufficient capacity, which results in price adjustments. However, the biggest question is how significantly current commodity 3D NAND and DRAM prices are influenced by insufficient supply, and how significantly they are influenced by typical commodity memory market behavior that dictates that customers buy more memory when it is getting more expensive, as it may get even more expensive in the future?

Gaming monitors are one of the most important choices you can make in your gaming setup. It doesn't matter how powerful your PC or games console is if you don't have the screen to output all those gorgeous graphics on. OLED panels have filtered down from televisions into the computer monitor market, and over the last few years, have become much more mainstream, with prices dropping to more affordable levels for the average PC/console gamer. Woot is on hand today to help get Samsung's Odyssey OLED G6 (G60SD) into your hands for just $564.99, the lowest price we've seen for this display. This represents a savings of $335 from the list price and is also $85 cheaper than Samsung's officially discounted special offer price on the identical monitor, direct from Samsung.

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OLED screens are known for their famously deep blacks and stunning contrast. Thanks to rapid response times and refresh rates that put the best IPS displays to shame, OLED displays are a fantastic choice for gamers. The Odyssey G6 QD-OLED (G60SD) has a 0.03ms response time, enabled by OLED technology, which eliminates ghosting and makes gameplay feel exceptionally smooth. OLED also provides a wide color gamut, spectacular contrast, and stunning HDR images. This model fields a QHD (1440p) resolution and a blisteringly fast 360 Hz refresh rate.

Samsung's Odyssey OLED G6 (G60SD) is both FreeSync Premium Pro and G-Sync compatible, helping to eliminate or reduce any screen tearing or frame mismatch issues you may encounter when using variable refresh rates (VRR) in games. To prevent the chances of screen burn-in, the Odyssey OLED G6 has OLED panel protection features built in to mitigate the damage of prolonged bright image assets on screen. On the rear of the monitor, there are 2x HDMI 2.1 ports, a single DisplayPort 1.4, and 2x USB 3.0 ports. The monitor does not include built-in speakers, but if you should need it, there is also a 3.5mm headphone audio jack next to the video inputs.

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