Do we like Samsung Electronics?
Phones, TVs, appliances and memory chips; the flagship of the Samsung group, based in South Korea.
Our score: 5 out of 10. Mixed. It has big green targets and a settled pay row, but it has privacy problems, a history of union friction and a very energy-hungry chip business.
Samsung Electronics is South Korea's biggest company and the world's largest memory chipmaker. Lee Jae-yong, the third-generation chairman, has been in the top job since October 2022. Reports this week say it is heading for record profits as the AI boom lifts chip demand. Billionaires.africa notes this is his first full year without a criminal case hanging over him.
Workers have been the big drama. In May 2026 more than 47,000 staff were set to strike over bonuses. CNBC reported the labour relations commission said the union accepted its mediation plan but Samsung rejected it. Then a government-led round of talks produced a tentative deal and the strike was suspended. Reuters reported the deal links bonuses to operating profit and scraps the cap.
NBC News noted that activists have criticised Samsung's union-busting for decades, although it is first-ever strikes only came in 2024. Those strikes began as a one-day walkout in June 2024 and grew into a longer action that ran to early August. The 2026 deal looks like a step towards calmer relations, but Korean press still lists easing labour tensions as a key challenge.
On customers' data, UpGuard reported that Samsung settled a lawsuit in March 2026 over how it uses TV viewing data, and agreed to improve its privacy disclosures. Separately, US class actions filed over its 2022 breaches accused it of weak security and of being slow to tell customers. Those are allegations in lawsuits, not findings by a court.
On the environment, Samsung's own 2026 report says its devices division runs on 94.8% renewable energy, but the chip division is only at 26.2%. That puts the company-wide figure at 32.5%. Chipmaking is very energy-hungry, and these are the company's own numbers. That is why we land in the middle: real effort, real baggage, and a pay row that looks settled for now.