60% of Samsung mobile phones made in Vietnam: report

Vietnam is Samsung's largest mobile phone manufacturing hub, accounting for up to 60% of the Korean group’s global sales.

The figure is mentioned in a newly released report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the country's import-export in 2021.

Samsung Vietnam recorded $74.2 billion in revenue and $65.5 billion in export last year, up 14% and 16% respectively year-on-year, Samsung Electronics data shows.

The company is the largest exporter in Vietnam, making for 19.5% of the country's $336.31 billion in export turnover in 2021.

Samsung Vietnam currently has six factories in Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen and Ho Chi Minh City, an R&D center in Hanoi and a legal entity for sales.

The group has invested over $220 million in the construction of the R&D center in the capital city, focusing on researching new technology trends like AI, Big Data, and Internet of Things. The new center is scheduled to debut at the end of 2022.

In Samsung’s development plan, Vietnam is surpassing its role as a key global manufacturing center and will become the group’s strategic R&D hub, General Director of Samsung Vietnam, Choi Joo Ho stated on the giant’s website.

Overall, Vietnam produced 233.7 million phones in 2021, up 7.6% from 2020. Phone components was worth VND580 trillion ($25.26 billion), up 29.5% year-on-year, according to the report.

Despite the impact of Covid-19, the country’s export turnover of phones and components surged 12.4%, reaching $57.5 billion and accounting for over 17.1% of the country’s total export turnover.

Consumer demand for this product group has increased to meet the need to work from home due to pandemic-induced social distancing, the report said.

However, manufacturers and exporters experienced numerous challenges last year due to supply chain problems, especially the global shortage of semiconductor chips.

China remained Vietnam’s biggest export market for phones and components, with $15.2 billion of export in 2021, of which 89.1% was phone components. This was followed by the U.S. ($9.7 billion), South Korea ($4.8 billion), UAE and Hongkong.