For Stable Production of Premium Smartphones
Samsung Electronics has relocated some smartphone production lines of its Vietnamese business partners back to its Gumi plant. The decision was taken after overseas plants, including those in Vietnam, suffered production disruptions due to COVID-19.
At the end of 2021, Samsung Electronics moved two production lines of its Vietnamese partners to its plant in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province. It was the first time that the Gumi plant production line has been expanded since the company moved its manufacturing base overseas.
Samsung Electronics’ annual smartphone production stands at about 300 million units. Plants in Vietnam’s Bac Ninh Province and Ta Nguyen Province account for about 60 percent of Samsung’s total smartphone output. The company's plant in Noida, India, produces about 100 million units. Factories in Brazil and Indonesia adjust their production volume in accordance with local demand.
The Gumi plant, Samsung's only mobile phone production base in Korea, served as a manufacturing control tower that diffused newly developed process technologies to overseas plants. Although the Gumi plant was in charge of domestic supplies for flagship products such as foldable smartphones and the Galaxy S, its proportion in Samsung’s total smartphone production has been on a gradual decline.
Yet, this system began to change last year. Global manufacturing bases in Vietnam and other countries were shut down due to COVID-19, causing severe production disruptions. As a special measure for supply chain management, Samsung decided to move overseas production lines back to Korea. Analysts say that Samsung has relocated its production line to Gumi, despite a cost increase, to manage the production of premium smartphones that greatly affect brand power.
Most of the flagship smartphone Galaxy S22 series will be produced at the Gumi plant. It will be officially released on Feb. 25.