Samsung is one of South Korea's most recognizable companies, but its smartphone production tells a different story.
Although Samsung is headquartered in South Korea, nearly half of the smartphones it sells worldwide are manufactured in Viet nam.
Since opening its first factory there in 2008, the company has transformed Viet nam into its largest smartphone production hub, accounting for an estimated 45-50% of global output.
One Factory in 2009, Six by 2025
Samsung opened its first mobile manufacturing facility in Bac Ninh Province in 2009.
The company expanded rapidly over the following years. In 2013, Samsung established a second major smartphone manufacturing complex in Thai Nguyen with an initial investment of US$2 billion, which was subsequently expanded.
It later strengthened its presence by opening a US$220 million research and development (R&D) center in Hanoi in 2022.
As of 2025, Samsung had invested approximately US$23.2 billion in Viet nam, operating six manufacturing facilities, one research and development (R&D) center, and one sales entity across Bac Ninh, Thai Nguyen, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City.
The scale of production reflects that investment. By mid-2025, Samsung’s two main smartphone factories in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen had collectively produced their 2 billionth handset since operations began, a milestone that underscores how central Viet nam has become to the company’s global output.
Why Viet Nam: Geography, Labor, and Government Policy
Several factors contributed to Viet nam’s rise as Samsung’s primary smartphone production base.
One was geography. Northern Viet nam sits close to southern China, where many electronic component suppliers are concentrated. This proximity allows components to move quickly into Vietnamese assembly plants while keeping transportation costs and delivery times low.
Another was labor costs. During the late 2000s and early 2010s, manufacturing wages in Viet Nam were significantly lower than in China.
Some industry estimates placed Vietnamese labor costs at roughly one third of Chinese levels, making the country an attractive location for labor intensive smartphone assembly while still providing access to a large manufacturing workforce.
A third factor was Viet nam’s investment environment. Since the late 2000s, the Vietnamese government has actively encouraged foreign direct investment through industrial parks, tax incentives, and infrastructure development.
As Viet nam's largest single source of foreign direct investment (FDI) and one of the country's biggest exporters, Samsung has built close working relationships with both national and provincial governments.
These partnerships have played a key role in supporting the company's continued expansion across multiple provinces.
What Samsung Means for Viet nam’s Economy
As Samsung’s operations expanded, Viet nam became increasingly dependent on, and shaped by the company’s presence.
By the end of 2025, Samsung Viet nam recorded export turnover of US$57.1 billion, with four major Viet nam based subsidiaries reporting combined net profits of US$3.68 billion, up 12.2% year-on-year (YoY).
Their combined revenue was equivalent to roughly 13% of Viet nam’s total export value of $475 billion in 2025.
The company also supports an extensive local supplier network. In 2014, the number of Vietnamese companies in Samsung’s global supply chain stood at 25. By the end of 2025, that figure had reached 257, reflecting a deepening integration between Samsung’s operations and Viet nam’s domestic manufacturing base.
From Assembly to Testing Chips
Today, Vietnam’s role within Samsung’s operations extends beyond smartphone assembly. Samsung has expanded into higher value activities including display manufacturing, R&D, and now semiconductor testing.
Samsung plans to invest US$1.5 billion to build its first semiconductor chip testing facility in Vietnam, located in an industrial park in Thai Nguyen Province approximately 60 kilometers north of Hanoi. Construction already underway and operations slated to begin in November 2027.
View this post on Instagram
The facility is a testing plant rather than a fabrication plant. It will validate finished memory chips for defects before shipment, rather than manufacture new wafers.
Sixteen Years, Two Billion Phones, and Counting
What began with a single mobile phone factory in 2009 has grown into one of Samsung’s most strategically important overseas operations.
Samsung’s Viet nam operations accounted for approximately 26.5% of the group’s global revenue and 11.6% of its total profits in 2025, figures that place Viet nam at the center.
For the majority of Galaxy users worldwide, the device in their hands was manufactured not in South Korea, but in Vietnam.
