Samsung Electronics is expected to award 78,000 semiconductor workers as much as Won600mn each after reaching a landmark profit-sharing deal, drawing criticism from conservatives who fear it could encourage similar demands at other South Korean companies.

Samsung is reportedly developing next-gen HBM packaging for mobile on-device AI. According to ETNews, Samsung is working on “Multi Stacked FOWLP,” combining advanced copper-pillar stacking with fan-out wafer-level packaging. Today’s mobile LPDDR still uses copper wire bonding, which limits I/O to roughly 128–256 terminals and creates signal-loss, thermal, and power-efficiency bottlenecks. Samsung’s VCS technology improves this by stacking DRAM dies in a staircase structure and connecting them with copper pillars. The new approach appears to push that further, aiming to bring HBM-like bandwidth closer to mobile devices.

Samsung and its South Korean labor union are set to join a new round of government-mediated pay talks on May 18, in a bid to avert a strike at the tech giant, which accounts for nearly a quarter of the country's exports. More here: