[Edaily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] Although they all carry the same SamsungElectronics business card, the performance bonuses they receive are vastly different. While semiconductor employees, riding the wave of the artificial intelligence (AI) memory boom, are expecting record-breaking performance bonuses, employees in the smartphone, TV, and home appliance divisions have been handed their first loss since the company’s inception. With the performance of SamsungElectronics’ two main pillars—the Semiconductor (DS) Division and the Device Experience (DX) Division—dividing sharply, the phenomenon of “two different compensation systems under one roof” is expected to become even more pronounced.

According to industry sources on the 31st, SamsungElectronics announced the previous day that it had recorded consolidated revenue of 171.4995 trillion won and operating profit of 89.4924 trillion won for the second quarter of this year. Both figures represent all-time quarterly highs.

A closer look at the results reveals a stark contrast. The DS Division, which handles semiconductors, posted revenue of 127.5 trillion won and an operating profit of 89.2 trillion won. This means DS accounted for 99.7% of the company’s total operating profit. When combined with the first quarter’s operating profit of 53.7 trillion won, the division earned 142.9 trillion won in the first half of the year alone.

The record-breaking boom in the semiconductor sector has even transformed SamsungElectronics’ performance-based bonus system. Under the previous Excess Profit Incentive (OPI) system, bonus amounts were calculated based on Economic Value Added (EVA), with a cap of 50% of an employee’s annual salary. However, as DS’s performance surged due to the AI memory boom, demands grew among employees for a compensation system that more accurately reflects their achievements. SK hynix’s decision to allocate a certain percentage of operating profit as a performance bonus fund—without any cap—further fueled dissatisfaction among DS employees.

Ultimately, in May, SamsungElectronics’ management and labor union agreed to maintain the existing OPI while establishing a special management performance bonus exclusively for DS. They decided to allocate 10.5% of DS’s business performance as the funding source and to set no upper limit on the payout rate. This was done to share the fruits of the unprecedented semiconductor boom with employees by adding a separate performance bonus on top of the existing compensation system.

The special management performance bonus will be paid from 2026 to 2028 if DS’s annual operating profit exceeds 200 trillion won. Since the company has already achieved 71% of the target in the first half of the year, it will meet the conditions if it earns an additional 57.1 trillion won in the second half. During labor-management negotiations, estimates suggested that if annual operating profit reached 300 trillion won, a Memory Business Division employee earning an annual salary of 100 million won could receive up to approximately 600 million won, including the existing OPI.

In contrast, DX employees are excluded from DS’s special management performance bonus program. Instead, in accordance with the previous wage agreement, they received company stock worth 6 million won per person, and the existing OPI system remains in place. However, if annual profitability deteriorates, the company’s ability to pay OPI could diminish, potentially widening the actual compensation gap with DS beyond expectations.

Ironically, the rise in memory prices—which delivered record profits to DS—was the cause of DX’s losses. Within the same company, DS reaped the benefits of rising semiconductor prices, while DX, which must incorporate those semiconductors into smartphones and TVs, bore the cost burden. In effect, the memory supercycle has brought a bonanza of performance bonuses to one side and a profitability crisis to the other.

DX employees are already protesting the compensation gap, holding rallies under the slogan “Same Company, Same Rights.” On the 16th, an estimated 5,000 employees (according to police) or 7,000 (according to the union) gathered at the Suwon plant in Gyeonggi Province, all dressed in black. On the scene, voices were heard saying, “Aren’t we SamsungElectronics employees?” and “It feels like my 37 years of service have been completely negated.” The union is demanding the distribution of 1,000 shares of company stock per employee and the scrapping of the current wage negotiations.

With this earnings report confirming the “two-tier compensation under one roof” phenomenon in concrete numbers, concerns have been raised that feelings of relative deprivation and labor-labor conflict may intensify once again. SamsungElectronics now faces an even more difficult dilemma, caught between the principle of performance-based compensation and the need for equity within a single organization.