Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees its semiconductor operations, has capped its performance bonus for the first half of 2025 at just 25% of the base monthly salary — the lowest among the company's major business units.

Taiwan's semiconductor and electronics industries are entering a new period of explosive growth, driven by the full-scale rollout of Nvidia's next-generation AI server platform, the GB200, and the scheduled launch of the even more powerful GB300 in the fourth quarter. Combined with expanding shipments of ASICs, the surge in demand is expected to significantly ease pressure from tariffs, currency volatility, and rising manufacturing costs.

Samsung Electronics has successfully developed its sixth-generation DRAM, known as 1c DRAM, built using a 10nm class process. The product has received internal Production Readiness Approval (PRA), signaling it has met key quality and performance benchmarks and is now in the final phase before mass production. The milestone brings Samsung one step closer to its goal of mass-producing HBM4, or fourth-generation high-bandwidth memory, in the second half of 2025.

Despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and a seasonal slowdown after the second-quarter stockpiling, memory chip suppliers remain cautiously upbeat about growth heading into the third quarter of 2025. A worsening shortage of DDR4 modules has triggered a surge in rush orders from customers, with demand skyrocketing and prices for DDR4 now surpassing those of newer DDR5 products—a rare flip that's accelerating the industry's transition to next-gen memory. Analysts expect the supply crunch to persist through the end of the year.