Counterpoint Research said the smartphone industry is rapidly shifting toward Agentic AI, with chipmakers and device makers racing to build smarter, context-aware AI experiences directly into smartphones. Qualcomm And MediaTek Intensify AI Smartphone Competition Counterpoint Research noted on Thursday that...
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Samsung Electronics (KOSE:A005930) has appointed Won-Jin Lee as the new Head of its Visual Display Business. The Visual Display Business oversees Samsung TVs, monitors, and related products that are central to the company’s consumer brand. Lee brings experience in content, services, and marketing, with potential implications for smart TV and connected home strategies. The Visual Display Business sits at the core of Samsung Electronics, shaping how consumers see the brand in living rooms,...
Investing.com -- South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will hold a high-profile bilateral summit on Tuesday, according to an official announcement from the South Korean presidential Blue House on Sunday.
South Korea will pursue all options, including emergency arbitration, to avoid a labour strike at the country's biggest employer Samsung Electronics and to minimise any damage if one does occur, its prime minister said on Sunday. The world's largest memory chip maker and its South Korean labour union will resume pay talks on Monday with a government mediator, in a move that could ease concerns over a potentially disruptive strike at the tech giant that accounts for nearly a quarter of the country's exports. "Just one day of suspension at Samsung Electronics' semiconductor factory is expected to incur direct losses of as much as 1 trillion won ($667.68 million)," Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said after an emergency meeting with ministers on Sunday.
Investors already factor in cyclicality in the chip industry. The bad news is that they’ve frequently gotten their assessments wrong.
(Bloomberg) -- Brian Emes manages a retail store in Lethbridge, Alberta, a small city on the Canadian prairie about a two-hour drive from the US border. On the morning of May 11, before opening the shop, the 43-year-old launched his brokerage app and bought 55 shares of an exchange-traded fund that hadn’t existed until early April. Most Read from BloombergWinners and Losers From Trump and Xi’s Beijing Summit TalksHormuz Oil Flows Creep Higher as More Supertankers ExitWhat Is The Thucydides Trap
Samsung Electronics (KOSE:A005930) and Withings are partnering to link their wearable and health management technologies. The collaboration focuses on data syncing between Samsung Health and Withings apps to give users a more unified health data view. The partnership targets cross platform health tracking, connecting Samsung devices with Withings health monitoring products. Samsung Electronics (KOSE:A005930) has been building out its position in consumer electronics, including smartphones,...
Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee apologised to customers and the public on Saturday over the company's wage dispute with its South Korean labour union ahead of a possible strike that could shake the economy. "I sincerely apologise to customers around the world for causing anxiety and concern due to issues within our company," Lee said in his first public remarks on the dispute, adding that he also "deeply bows in apology to the public". After pay negotiations broke down this week, the labour minister met Samsung Electronics management on Saturday and urged the company to take an active role in resolving the dispute through dialogue.
Netlist (OTCMKTS:NLST) reported record quarterly revenue for the first quarter of 2026, citing strong demand for memory products, tight industry supply and higher DRAM pricing as key drivers of its performance. Chief Executive Officer Chuck Hong said the company delivered “a strong first quarter pe
South Korea is often-overlooked but its stock market is the hottest in the world this year. The boom is led by chip powerhouses SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.
The Roundhill Memory ETF (CBOE:DRAM) launched on April 2, 2026 as the first pure-play memory chip ETF, and in roughly six weeks it has returned 96%. Investors own DRAM for clean exposure to the HBM and AI memory build-out without picking between Samsung, SK hynix, or Micron. The catch: DRAM is a three-stock basket in ... The DRAM ETF Holds 73% in Just Three Companies, And That’s the Real Problem
The market’s appetite for memory chip makers is feverish, but this subset of the semiconductor industry might be looking a bit too hot. Memory companies have been the latest beneficiaries of the artificial-intelligence investing craze, a boom that has lifted the entire semiconductor sector. The reason is its focus on memory chips and its heavy concentration on three companies in particular: Micron Technology and South Korea’s SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics.
Micron (NASDAQ:MU) is the memory stock dominating every AI headline this quarter, with traders glued to high-bandwidth memory pricing and the next supply-cycle data point. But here is what you should actually be watching. Memory has always been a commodity-cyclical business. The pricing leverage powering Micron’s current run can reverse on a single Samsung or ... Forget Micron. Every Dollar of AI Memory Spending Has to Pass Through These 2 Stocks First
Investing.com -- Samsung Electronics has entered emergency management mode as up to 50,000 employees prepare to strike for 18 days starting May 21, according to Mizuho TMT Sector Specialist Jordan Klein. The company has begun a "warm down" of its memory fabs at the Pyeongtaek facility to prevent equipment damage during a potential stoppage.
Asian stock markets retreated Friday as traders weighed geopolitical concerns, inflation, labor issu

<body><p>STORY: Samsung's labor union said Friday it's still committed to a planned strike starting next week.</p><p>That's despite the company proposing to resume pay talks without conditions.</p><p>Government-mediated negotiations between the union and the company over pay and bonus schemes collapsed this week.</p><p>It led to more concerns about a strike at the world's biggest memory chipmaker.</p><p>The union said Friday it was willing to hold new talks after June 7.</p><p>But it kept plans for an 18-day strike from May 21 which could disrupt production at the chipmaker.</p><p>The union is angry over what it calls a massive gap in bonus pay with rival chipmaker SK Hynix.</p><p>They've warned that more than 50,000 workers could walk off the job next week.</p><p>Samsung executives urged the union to resume talks.</p><p>They also apologized to the public and the government for the disruption caused by the labor fallout.</p><p>They've vowed to approach negotiations with an open attitude and keep up efforts to reach an agreement.</p><p>The company said executives were heading to the company's Pyeongtaek campus to meet the union leader.</p><p>South Korean government officials have said a strike at Samsung should be avoided at all costs.</p><p>They worry about the risk it poses to economic growth, exports and financial markets.</p><p>Investors didn't like what they heard and shares were down close to 10% after the update.</p><p>Analysts blamed the share drop on growing uncertainty over the potential impact of a strike on production.</p><p>They also fear whether Samsung can meet its commitments to customers due to potential industrial action.</p></body>
A looming 18-day strike at South Korean chip giant Samsung that has triggered worries within the government, rattled foreign investors and threatened global supply chains rests on one crucial question: who should share in the spoils of the AI boom? More than 45,000 workers are threatening to stage the largest strike in the conglomerate's history from May 21, reducing production of memory chips that are crucial components in AI data centres, smartphones and laptops, as Samsung and its union struggle to find a compromise over bonus payouts. Samsung Electronics, which has reaped huge profits from a global memory shortage, has offered to pay generous bonuses to staff.
By Hyunjoo Jin SEOUL, May 15 (Reuters) - A looming 18-day strike at South Korean chip giant Samsung that has triggered worries within the government, rattled foreign investors and threatened global
Investing.com -- Global semiconductor stocks fell Friday, dragged lower by a sharp selloff in South Korean equities and mounting geopolitical uncertainty as U.S.-Iran talks showed no signs of progress.
(Bloomberg) -- Kioxia Holdings Corp., the world’s best-performing major stock this year, said it would list its shares in the US as it reaps the benefits of a global memory chip shortage that’s ratcheted up prices of the vital component.Most Read from BloombergHormuz Oil Flows Creep Higher as More Supertankers ExitIran’s Kharg Island Oil Jetties Empty Again Yesterday, Satellite ShowsWhat Is The Thucydides Trap and Why Did Xi Raise It With Trump?Xi Tells US CEOs on Trump Visit That China Will Ope
Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia said on Friday it expected operating profit for the April-June quarter to reach 1.3 trillion yen ($8.20 billion) as the artificial intelligence boom boosts chip demand. The maker of NAND flash memory chips reported operating profit rose 92.7% to 870.4 billion yen in the year ended March, beating estimates. Kioxia said it is preparing to list American depositary shares on a U.S. exchange to grow its investor base.
Samsung Electronics' South Korean labour union said on Friday it remained committed to a planned strike starting next week, even after the company proposed resuming pay talks without conditions, sending shares down as much as 5.9%. Analysts attributed the share decline to growing uncertainty over the potential impact of a strike on production and concerns about Samsung's ability to meet its commitments to customers. "There appears to be rising concerns over delivery reliability if the strike takes place and sentiment that rivals could benefit from the uncertainty," said Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
(Bloomberg) -- South Korea’s benchmark stock index briefly breached the 8,000 mark for the first time on Friday, just seven sessions after it reached the 7,000 milestone.Most Read from BloombergHormuz Oil Flows Creep Higher as More Supertankers ExitIran’s Kharg Island Oil Jetties Empty Again Yesterday, Satellite ShowsWhat Is The Thucydides Trap and Why Did Xi Raise It With Trump?Xi Tells US CEOs on Trump Visit That China Will Open Up MoreTrump Says China Offered Help on Iran as Ship Taken Near U
Samsung Electronics' South Korean labour union said on Friday the tech company had proposed resuming talks without conditions, days after government-mediated negotiations over pay and bonus schemes collapsed. Samsung Electronics shared a statement confirming its offer of unconditional talks, though it did not immediately provide further comment. Samsung's union said on Thursday it would sit down for talks if the company presented a detailed proposal addressing the union's demands by 0100 GMT on Friday.
AMD (NasdaqGS:AMD) is reportedly close to signing an agreement with Samsung for 2nm chip production. The move would expand AMD's access to advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity beyond its current reliance on TSMC. The potential deal is expected to support future cutting edge product lines and diversify AMD's supply chain. AMD operates across CPUs, GPUs, data center products, and custom chips, putting it at the center of high performance and AI computing demand. As chip complexity...
A basket of major chip stocks were all higher for the day on bets earnings momentum will keep tech companies flying high. Shares of Nvidia, the poster child of AI enthusiasm, rose 4.4%. Broadcom, Samsung Electronics, Taiwan Semiconductor, ASML, Texas Instruments, and AMD shares were all up, too.
A red-hot ETF that launched just six weeks ago has surpassed Cathie Wood's flagship ARK Innovation (ARKK) fund in assets. Roundhill's Memory ETF, known by ticker DRAM, has accumulated some $9 billion in assets since its April 2 launch. Individual investors have been piling into the fund at an unprecedented pace for a new launch, according to data provider Vanda Research.
The Roundhill Memory ETF (CBOE:DRAM) launched on April 2, 2026 as the first U.S.-listed fund built entirely around memory chip makers, and it has already returned 85% since inception. For a retiree screening DRAM as an inflation hedge or AI-themed growth sleeve, that headline number is the wrong place to start. DRAM is a concentrated, ... DRAM ETF’s 85% Surge Masks a Dangerous Bet: Why This Memory Play Doesn’t Belong in Retirement Portfolios

The Roundhill Memory ETF (DRAM) has become the fastest-growing ETF ever, soaring past $6.5 billion in managed assets. This comes as memory chip stocks like Micron Technology (MU) surge by 180% year-to-date in 2026 and Sandisk (SNDK) skyrocketing over 3,200% over the past year alone. Roundhill Investments CEO Dave Mazza — whose firm manages the fund — comes on Market Catalyst to talk about the ETF's growth and the supply and demand dynamics at play with AI data center projects.
A number of stocks jumped in the afternoon session after worries about a global chip shortage reached parabolic territory driven by AI optimism and strong investor momentum.