--- title: "Micron's Taiwan fab stays suspended after a union walkout, handing HBM capacity to Samsung and SK hynix" description: "The walkout leaves the fab stopped with no settlement date, and the HBM capacity it was meant to add by 2028 is capacity Micron's booked-up Korean rivals can sell instead. Micron, the smallest of Nvidia's three HBM4 suppliers at an estimated 17% share, reports in December with an 86% gross-margin guide to defend." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Chips" published: 2026-11-13T15:06:55.245Z modified: 2026-11-13T15:06:55.245Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/micron-s-taiwan-fab-stays-suspended-after-a-union-walkout-handing-hbm-capacity-to-samsung-and-sk-hynix language: en keywords: "Micron, Memory, HBM, Labor, Taiwan, SK hynix" --- # Micron's Taiwan fab stays suspended after a union walkout, handing HBM capacity to Samsung and SK hynix > The walkout leaves the fab stopped with no settlement date, and the HBM capacity it was meant to add by 2028 is capacity Micron's booked-up Korean rivals can sell instead. Micron, the smallest of Nvidia's three HBM4 suppliers at an estimated 17% share, reports in December with an 86% gross-margin guide to defend. ## Taoyuan stops, with no date to restart [Micron](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/micron)'s Taiwan plant union has withdrawn from profit-sharing negotiations, leaving [the Fab 11E memory plant in Taoyuan suspended](https://theinference.org/article/taiwan-s-first-chip-sector-strike-stopped-micron-s-4-5-billion-ai-memory-fab) with no settlement date [1][2]. Micron broke ground on the $3 billion to $4.5 billion plant in July for high-bandwidth memory and advanced DRAM due in 2028; only site-safety work continues [1][2]. ## What the walkout leaves on the table The union [wants a permanent formula that hands workers 15% of operating profit, paid quarterly](https://thenextweb.com/news/micron-taiwan-union-strike-profit-sharing) [7]. Against the margin Micron is guiding to, that is a large claim: the company earned $99.3 billion of operating income in fiscal 2026, so a 15% formula on last year's numbers would have paid employees about $15 billion a year [5][6]. Samsung [settled its own strike threat at 10.5% of chip-division operating profit](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/21/micron-is-making-record-profits-its-taiwan-workers-are-walking-out/) and [SK hynix](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/sk-hynix) at 10%, which gives the Taoyuan union a benchmark well below its ask, and gives Micron a settlement range short of 15% [5][6]. Neither side has moved, and the sources do not say when talks might resume. *Chart: **The Taoyuan ask sits well above the settlements at Samsung and SK hynix** Column chart of profit-sharing formulas: Micron's Taiwan union asks 15% of operating profit, Samsung settled at 10.5%, SK hynix at 10%* *Profit-sharing shares of chip-division operating profit, in percent: the Taoyuan union's ask per The Next Web; the Samsung and SK hynix settlements per 24/7 Wall St. and Yahoo Finance/TIKR. [5][6][7]* ## The orders do not wait for Taoyuan Micron has buyers who have already committed. Management said on September 30 that [more than 75% of fiscal 2027 shipments are spoken for](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/micron-earned-apple-last-quarter-122305068.html), and most of the new capacity it funds opens in late 2028 or later [4]. It guided the December quarter to $61.5 billion of revenue at about 86% gross margin [4]. *Chart: **Micron's gross margin has more than doubled in two years; the guide says it holds at 86%** Line chart of Micron's gross margin by quarter from Q4 2024 to Q4 2026, rising from 38.4% to 86.8%, with the December quarter guided at about 86%* *Micron's gross margin, percent of revenue, by calendar quarter from its SEC filings; the December quarter is the company's guidance of about 86% on $61.5 billion of revenue, per Yahoo Finance/TIKR. [4][9]* A frozen fab is supply that cannot answer those commitments. SK hynix and Samsung can fill the orders Micron cannot: SK hynix [said on its third-quarter earnings call](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/business/jensen-huangs-exit-clouds-future-nvidia-demand-for-korean-chipmakers/12970507) that its DRAM and HBM capacity through 2029 is effectively sold out under long-term customer agreements, and Samsung says its 2027 HBM output is fully booked [3]. *Chart: **Micron trails in the HBM4 race it cannot now expand** Estimated shares of Nvidia's sixth-generation HBM4 supply this year: SK hynix 55%, Samsung 28%, Micron 17%* *Estimated shares of Nvidia's HBM4 supply in 2026, per Daishin Securities estimates reported by Korea JoongAng Daily; percentages of total HBM4 supply. [3]* ## The smallest slice of Nvidia's HBM4 Micron was already the smallest of [Nvidia](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nvidia)'s three HBM4 suppliers this year, with an estimated 17% share against SK hynix's 55% and Samsung's 28% [3]. While Taoyuan stands still, that share has no reason to grow: Micron would collect boom pricing on the shipments it has committed, and SK hynix and Samsung would supply the volume it cannot. Micron's own annual report warns that a labor disruption could divert customer demand to competing suppliers [8]. ## December's guide is the test Micron trades at about 4 times forward earnings, down more than 40% from its June high, because the market treats this profit as peak-cycle money [4]. The December guide shows whether [the price floor holds](https://theinference.org/article/micron-s-86-margin-floor-now-hangs-on-a-taiwan-strike-vote); the Taoyuan timeline shows whether Micron adds any supply of its own before the shortage ends [4]. If the fab slips past 2028, the committed volume goes to rivals with booked capacity and no profit-sharing standoff [4]. ## Takeaway Micron's Fab 11E stays suspended after the union walked from profit-sharing talks, and the HBM capacity it was meant to add by 2028 flows instead to Samsung and SK hynix, whose 2027 HBM output is already booked. Micron reports in December with a $61.5 billion, 86% gross-margin guide to defend. ## Sources 1. [Business Korea (via r/taiwan), "Micron Halts Taiwan Fab Construction, Facing Union Demand for 15% Profit Share", 7 November 2026](https://old.reddit.com/r/taiwan/comments/1xphyjv/micron_halts_taiwan_fab_construction_facing_union/) 2. [Newsquawk, "Pre-Market Taiwan and Singapore Stocks News" (Taipei Times item on Micron union withdrawing from talks), 13 November 2026](https://www.newsquawk.com/headlines/pre-market-taiwan-and-singapore-stocks-news-earnings-from-hon-hai-2317-tt-and-singapore-telecommunications-st-sp) 3. [Korea JoongAng Daily, "Jensen Huang's exit clouds future Nvidia demand for Korean chipmakers", 12 November 2026](https://www.koreajoongangdaily.com/business/jensen-huangs-exit-clouds-future-nvidia-demand-for-korean-chipmakers/12970507) 4. [Yahoo Finance / TIKR, "Micron Out-Earned Apple Last Quarter, Yet It's Worth 1/6 as Much", 12 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/micron-earned-apple-last-quarter-122305068.html) 5. [24/7 Wall St., "Micron Is Making Record Profits. Its Taiwan Workers Are Walking Out", 21 October 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/10/21/micron-is-making-record-profits-its-taiwan-workers-are-walking-out/) 6. [Yahoo Finance / TIKR, "Micron's New Taiwan Plant Is Sold Out for 2027. Its Workers Want 15% of Profits", 15 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/micron-taiwan-plant-sold-2027-171749311.html) 7. [The Next Web, "Micron workers in Taiwan to strike as bonus talks with chipmaker fail", 20 October 2026](https://thenextweb.com/news/micron-taiwan-union-strike-profit-sharing) 8. [The Motley Fool, "A Micron Union in Taiwan Voted 99% to Authorize a Strike. Should You Sell the Stock?", 19 October 2026](https://www.fool.com/investing/2026/10/19/a-micron-union-in-taiwan-voted-99-to-authorize-a-strike-should-you-sell-the-stock/) 9. [Micron, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 13 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000723125) --- Micron's Taiwan fab stays suspended after a union walkout, handing HBM capacity to Samsung and SK hynix — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/micron-s-taiwan-fab-stays-suspended-after-a-union-walkout-handing-hbm-capacity-to-samsung-and-sk-hynix