Samsung mulls ramping up production in Vietnam to meet soaring demand for foldables

September 01, 2021 | 13:26

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Buoyed by a stronger-than-expected reaction to its latest foldable handsets, Samsung Electronics is considering to increase production capacity by 50 per cent at its smartphone plant in Vietnam for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3.

Samsung mulls ramping up production in Vietnam to meet soaring demand for foldables

Samsung mulls ramping up production in Vietnam to meet the soaring demand for new foldables

Samsung Display, which makes the screens for Samsung phones, is reportedly considering increasing yearly output of foldable displays at its Bac Ninh facility in Vietnam to 25 million from 17 million, according to industry insiders.

The expansion might happen by the end of this year or early next year at the latest, allowing the company to produce 10 million Z Fold and 15 million Z Flip units per year, as reported by newswire Pulsenews.

The new foldables have gotten a lot of positive feedback, exceeding the company's expectations.

Samsung's first-generation foldable gadget, the Galaxy Fold, sold barely 500,000 devices worldwide when it was released in 2019, and its second-generation Galaxy Z series sold roughly 1.5 million. Its latest Galaxy Z 3 models, meanwhile, garnered 920,000 pre-orders in South Korea during the one-week preorder period before its official launch, 1.8 times more than its flagship Galaxy S21 released in last January.

It is projected that sales of Samsung’s foldable smartphones will reach 7.5 million by the end of this year and over 20 million in 2023.

To meet the surge in demand, the South Korean tech giant has ramped up its phone production lines in Vietnam and other countries to maximum capacity, shipping out 3 million Galaxy Z series phones in the last two months. According to market researcher DSCC, annual manufacturing of its foldable handsets is expected to increase 251 per cent by the end of this year, compared to 500,000 units last year.

By Ngoc Khue

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