Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) Division, now stabilized after a year-long emergency push to rescue its core memory business, is resuming investment in next-generation NAND flash, compound semiconductors, and advanced packaging — but an 18-day worker walkout looming as soon as May 21 could freeze those plans before they start.
The timing is pointed. Samsung and its largest labor union failed to reach a last-minute wage agreement on Wednesday, heightening the risk of a work stoppage that could disrupt operations at the world's largest memory chipmaker. Losses from the walkout are estimated at roughly 1 trillion won ($671 million) per day, with prolonged disruptions potentially costing key clients such as Nvidia.
Against that backdrop, Samsung's DS Division is quietly trying to plot its next chapter.
The Comeback That Freed Up Bandwidth
For more than a year beginning in the second half of 2024, Samsung poured its organizational resources into a single mission: fixing its DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) businesses, both of which had stumbled badly. Samsung has since shipped what it calls the industry's first commercial HBM4, using its sixth-generation 1c DRAM process to achieve stable yields and industry-leading performance from the outset of mass production. The company has reportedly planned to ramp HBM production capacity by 50% in 2026 and anticipates that its HBM sales will more than triple in 2026 compared to 2025.
With that foundation in place, industry sources say Samsung's DS Division has begun internal consultations to resume major R&D programs and capital equipment investments that had been deprioritized during the recovery period.
What's Back on the Drawing Board
400-layer-plus NAND flash. Samsung aims to produce vertical NAND with a minimum of 400 stacked layers and is developing its 10th-generation V-NAND (V10), which uses an innovative bonding technology where cells and peripheral circuitry are manufactured on separate wafers before being joined together. The longer-term roadmap calls for NAND exceeding 1,000 layers by 2030. The urgency is real: surging demand for NAND flash, fueled by AI workloads and data center expansion, is pushing memory makers into a new investment cycle after years of restraint.
Compound semiconductors. Samsung's DS Division is also revisiting compound semiconductor R&D, though no public roadmap has been disclosed. This segment — which includes materials like gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) used in power devices and RF chips — has seen intensifying competition from rivals including TSMC and STMicroelectronics.
Advanced packaging and substrates. Samsung's packaging ambitions overlap with a booming market driven by AI chiplet architectures. Extensive in-house expertise in advanced packaging allows for streamlined production cycles and reduced lead times, according to Samsung's own communications. Packaging and substrate investment is said to have reached a concrete planning stage.
The Walkout Variable
The breakdown in talks came after two days of government-led mediation viewed as a last-ditch effort to avert the stoppage scheduled for May 21. Union and management remain sharply divided over performance-based bonuses tied to the company's AI-related earnings — the union is demanding bonuses equivalent to 15% of operating profit, along with the removal of an existing payout cap. More than 40,000 union members have expressed an intention to participate. Samsung has filed an injunction with the Suwon District Court seeking to block the planned work stoppage, with a ruling expected before the scheduled start date.
The dispute echoes a settlement at rival SK Hynix in September 2025, which removed a cap on its bonus agreement and paid out a total pool that gave an employee earning 100 million won a year an additional 148 million won in bonuses. Samsung workers are demanding comparable terms.
Until the labor conflict is resolved, sources say Samsung has been unable to commit to a specific investment timeline.
Why It Matters
The restart of Samsung's next-generation programs comes as the AI infrastructure build-out reshapes chip demand across the board — and competitors are not standing still. SK Hynix has a head start in HBM. Micron is moving aggressively on advanced NAND. TSMC dominates advanced packaging through CoWoS. Samsung's window to reclaim ground on multiple fronts simultaneously is real, but narrow — and a prolonged work stoppage at its core DS division would be more than a financial blow. It would be a strategic one.
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