TENS of thousands of Samsung Electronics workers rallied today at its computer chip complex in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, demanding higher bonuses and threatening to strike as booming demand for artificial intelligence drives up memory-chip profits.

Holding signs and waving banners, the workers gathered at a factory compound amid a heavy police presence, shouting “Make compensation transparent and remove maximum limits on bonuses!”

Union officials said about 40,000 members participated in the protest.

The rally came hours after Samsung’s cross-town rival, SK Hynix, posted an all-time high in quarterly revenue and operating profit for the January-March quarter, a jump it attributed to expanding global investments in data centres and other AI infrastructure that drove up the demands for its memory chips.

Samsung, which together with SK Hynix produces about two-thirds of global memory chips, forecast earlier this month that its first-quarter operating profit would reach a record 57.2 trillion won (around £29 billion).

That would be higher than the 37.6trn won (£19bn) posted by SK Hynix on Thursday, although Samsung has a more diverse line-up of businesses, including smartphones and consumer electronics.

Samsung’s union, which represents about 74,000 workers, says the company has failed to offer adequate compensation despite its strong performance. It has rejected the management’s proposal for bonuses of restricted stock and called for removing caps on bonuses.

The union has threatened to stage an 18-day walkout starting on May 21 if negotiations with management fail and claims that such action would cost the company more than 1trn won (£501 million) a day.

“We won’t stop this fight until our fair demands are met,” Choi Seung Ho, a union leader, told the workers’ rally.

While semiconductor makers have benefited from the AI boom, the war in the Middle East has clouded the future outlook, disrupting supplies of key materials such as helium and pushing up energy costs.