Will the DRAM and NAND Shortage Get Even Worse Because of Samsung’s Strike?

Hot news News Tech Tech News 04/29/2026

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TECH NEWS – Eighteen days can change a great many things, and unfortunately not in any direction we would call positive…

A serious DRAM and NAND crisis is looming, because Samsung is now facing an 18-day strike in May that could disrupt the global supply chain. DRAM and NAND production is already struggling with supply constraints, and the situation may get even worse because Samsung’s union members are expected to walk out for 18 days as the company refuses to meet their compensation demands. The union is asking for bonuses amounting to 15% of the South Korean giant’s annual operating profit, which works out to roughly $30 billion. If Samsung refuses to meet those demands, workers are planning to strike from May 21 to June 7.

Forecasts suggest that if Samsung Electronics’ union proceeds with the announced 18-day general strike, the supply of memory semiconductors could drop by as much as 4%. The reason is that even after the strike ends, it still takes about two to three weeks for production to return to normal. If these strikes do happen, Samsung is expected to suffer a 3-4% drop in DRAM output and a 2-3% decline in NAND output. Current estimates put the total losses caused by the strike at around 20-30 trillion won, or roughly $13-20 billion. On top of that, the strike could effectively result in 36 days of disrupted production.

TrendForce estimates that recovery after the strike would take at least two to three weeks, including restarting cleanrooms, recalibrating equipment, dealing with scrapped silicon wafers, gradually bringing yields back up, and more. These strikes would deepen the crisis in the AI segment, which is already struggling under severe DRAM and NAND limitations. Samsung and other semiconductor manufacturers are racing to expand both existing and new facilities, but that takes time, and previously reported information suggests they will only be able to satisfy around 70% of current demand.

So if RAM or SSDs become even harder to find over the summer, this may be the reason why…

Source: WCCFTech, News1, TrendForce

Angyal Anikó

Anikó, our news editor and communication manager, is more interested in the business side of the gaming industry. She worked at banks, and she has a vast knowledge of business life. Still, she likes puzzle and story-oriented games, like Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments, which is her favourite title. She also played The Sims 3, but after accidentally killing a whole sim family, swore not to play it again. (For our office address, email and phone number check out our IMPRESSUM)