Key insights
- Samsung's chip production in South Korea experienced a temporary decline due to a labor protest over wages. While the immediate impact appears limited, further disruptions could negatively affect the global chip supply chain and potentially impact US tech companies reliant on Samsung's components.
SEOUL, April 24 (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics' production of foundry and memory chips at its facilities in South Korea dropped 58% and 18%, respectively, during the overnight shift on Thursday as unionised workers attended a protest demanding higher wages, the company's union said.
Many workers, who joined protest on Thursday at a factory complex in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, skipped the overnight shift from 10 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday at the company's South Korean production facilities after the protest, according to the union.
Samsung's factories are scheduled to operate 24 hours a day on three shifts, the union said.
Samsung declined to comment.
(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Susan Fenton)