Significant Increase from Last Year’s 14%
80% of Q4 Results Driven by DS Division
Mobile Division Receives 50% Payout
The Device Solutions (DS) division, which oversees Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business, will receive a performance bonus equivalent to 47% of annual salary this year. This marks a significant increase from last year's 14%, driven by a substantial improvement in results centered on general-purpose DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). The Mobile eXperience (MX) division, which led strong performance thanks to robust sales of the Galaxy S25 and Fold 7 series, has been allocated a payout rate of 50%.
On the afternoon of January 16, Samsung Electronics announced the finalized payout rates for the 2025 Overachieving Performance Incentive (OPI) by division. The bonuses will be paid on January 30.
The OPI, paid once a year, is awarded if a division exceeds its annual performance targets. Up to 50% of an individual's annual salary may be paid as a bonus, within a cap of 20% of the excess profit.
For the DS division, the OPI payout rate for memory, foundry, and system LSI businesses was set at 47% of annual salary. The OPI for the DS division for 2024 was 14%. Given that the average monthly salary for Samsung Electronics employees last year was estimated at around 120 million won, it is expected that employees will receive a bonus of approximately 60 million won.
This year's substantial increase in the payout rate is attributed to the rise in general-purpose DRAM prices and the full-scale supply of HBM3E (5th generation). The foundry division also achieved results, signing a record-breaking supply contract worth 22.8 trillion won with Tesla last year, while the system LSI division secured a deal to supply next-generation iPhone image sensors to Apple. According to the provisional earnings announcement on January 8, Samsung Electronics' operating profit for the fourth quarter was 20 trillion won, with an estimated 80% (16 to 17 trillion won) of this driven by the DS division.
Within the Device eXperience (DX) division, the OPI payout rate was set at 50%, buoyed by the success of the Galaxy S25 and Fold 7 series last year. The Visual Display (VD), Digital Appliances (DA), Network, and Medical Device divisions, which handle TV and home appliance businesses, will each receive a 12% OPI payout. The business support division and Harman, the subsidiary specializing in automotive electronics and audio, have been allocated a 39% OPI payout.
Meanwhile, according to industry sources, the company recently announced an employee stock compensation plan for performance bonuses, expanding a benefit previously available only to executives. Under this plan, employees can choose to receive 0% to 50% of their OPI payout in company stock, in 10% increments.
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