Made-in-Vietnam Xiaomi phones reach regional markets

Xiaomi smartphones made in Vietnam are already available in the Malaysian and Thai markets while Google is considering having its future Pixel phones produced in the country.

Hong Kong-based DBG Holdings, a Xiaomi contract manufacturer, started delivering the Chinese smartphone maker’s first batch of made-in-Vietnam smartphones this June, with the models sold in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand, DBG said.

Xiaomi’s budget device Poco C40 hit the street in Vietnam’s red-hot phone market a week before its global launch on June 16.

In the country, DBG makes Xiaomi smartphones at its factory in Thai Nguyen province. The $80 million, 20-hectare facility is designed with a monthly production capacity of more than 2 million handsets, according to DBG’s website.

Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces, both neighboring Hanoi, are home to Samsung Vietnam facilities that produce Samsung smartphones. At present, about 60% of Samsung smartphones are made in Vietnam, according to the Korean giant.

In the Vietnamese smartphone market, Xiaomi has become the second-largest supplier for the first time ever with a 20.6% share of total shipments, behind Samsung with 31%, according to a May 2022 report by market research firm Counterpoint Research.

Xiaomi has long desired to expand to Southeast Asia, and its Vietnam production via contract manufacturer DBG is part of the new journey.

Not just Xiaomi is moving to Vietnam. American tech giant Apple moved part of its iPad production from China to the Southeast Asian country this June to avoid Covid-19 lockdowns and disrupted production. Apple assembler BYD, a Chinese company, started a trial run in May in order to begin commercial production of iPads in June at its plant inside Phu Ha Industrial Park in Phu Tho province, which borders Hanoi.

Phu Ha IP officials granted BYD an investment license last December to build a VND6.23 trillion ($268 million) factory. The plant’s designed production capacity is 4.33 million tablets a year, starting in June 2022, according to an announcement on the province’s website.

Google is also mulling over the production of its new Pixel smartphone models at its partner plants in Vietnam to avoid U.S.-China trade tension risks and China's Covid-19 lockdowns.