Performance-based bonuses are typically handed out to employees for their exceptional work in a 12-month period. Samsung, which previously struggled with its Device Solutions (DS) division, a sector that is responsible for DRAM, NAND, chipsets, image sensors, wafers, and more, is slowly paving the way towards enabling Samsung to make its foundry business profitable by 2027. The Korean giant has reportedly recognized the efforts made by its employees, and to show its appreciation, Samsung’s DS division is reportedly handing out bonuses of up to 100 percent of the base salary.
Samsung’s Mobile Experience division will hand out 75 percent base salary bonuses to employees thanks to the success of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7
A report published by AJUNEWS states that Samsung announced the bonus for the second half of the year’s ‘Target Achievement Incentive’ (TAI) through its internal bulletin board on December 22. Performance-based bonuses are handed out to employees twice every year, but the DS division’s latest reward is a massive increase over the 25 percent it handed to workers in the first half of the year. This mammoth bump is due to the sector’s robust performance, thanks to the HBM3E supply prepared for NVIDIA, not to mention an increase in DRAM prices.
Samsung was recently reported to have overtaken Micron thanks to HBM3E and HBM4 breakthroughs. However, the real cash-cow is in DRAM production, which is why the Korean giant was earlier said to have prioritized DDR5 manufacturing over HBM for maximizing profits. While the DRAM shortage is making the industry and consumers miserable, Samsung’s estimated operating profit is said to reach $73 billion in 2026, suggesting that high-bandwidth memory was not as instrumental to the DS division’s performance-based bonus increase as DDR.
In fact, Apple has been reported to make Samsung its biggest supplier of LPDDR5X RAM for the iPhone 17 and upcoming iPhone 18 lineups. As for Mobile Experience division employees, they will receive a 75 percent bonus of their base salary thanks to increased sales of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7. The System LSI and Foundry sectors have been awarded a 25 percent bonus, but this figure will likely increase in the coming years, assuming Samsung can maintain its current trajectory.
Samsung’s 2nm GAA process is slowly generating the necessary momentum to help the company’s DS division
With the recent unveiling of the Exynos 2600, Samsung has signaled to the industry that its next-generation 2nm GAA process is ready for deployment. When we first reported that the chipset had undergone mass production back in September, the yields were estimated to be at 50 percent. Fast-forward to December, those numbers would have seen an improvement, because Samsung is reported to utilize the Exynos 2600 in next year’s Galaxy Z Flip 8.
Of course, reducing its chipset expenditure isn’t the company’s only goal in restoring its foundry business, as the company has previously been reported to have signed a multi-billion-dollar deal with Tesla, along with fulfilling 2nm GAA orders for two Chinese cryptocurrency equipment manufacturers. Even Samsung’s 4nm technology, which has been criticized for producing ‘less than stellar’ yields, is showing promise, allowing the manufacturer to secure a $100 million chip order from a U.S. AI firm.
For those wondering if Samsung’s profiteering over the DRAM shortage is a short-term event, the supply is estimated to remain scarce until Q4 2027, meaning that the company has plenty of time to focus on its other DS sub-divisions and prop them up.
News Source: AJUNEWS
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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