U.S. President Trump is speaking at Turkey's Presidential Palace.

A newly formed Samsung SDS union formally requested collective bargaining one day after launching. Membership applications began afternoon July 6 and topped 2,000 within about two hours; by ~13:30 on July 7 membership had risen to 4,342. Samsung SDS employs roughly 11,000 staff; the union seeks more than 5,500 members to secure a majority. Management proposes replacing cash performance bonuses with company stock worth 20% of annual salary; a staff vote on the plan is underway and closes at midnight July 7. Opponents say stock-based pay links compensation to share-price and external industry conditions, is harder to liquidate and is not included in retirement-benefit calculations.

Samsung's Q2 operating profit rose 19-fold YoY, driven by AI data-center build-out pushing DRAM/NAND demand; core storage capacity remains effectively tight, supporting concurrent volume and price gains. Markets sold off despite the strong numbers as investors fear a future supply glut and demand peak. Key risks: prior industry-wide capacity expansion could trigger oversupply if US tech firms curb AI infra capex; alternatively, labour shortages and power constraints could stall data-center builds and cut hardware demand. The prospect of looming overcapacity and fading pricing power prompted profit-taking and the stock pullback.