Global phone makers are taking more and more interest in India to manufacture smartphones.?
A few weeks ago we saw Apple looking to shift its manufacturing from China to India while also diversifying its production line-up, and now next in line is Samsung.
As per a recent ET report, Samsung is looking to shift a major part of its smartphone production from Vietnam to India and other countries. The South Korean giant is working on closing a deal to produce smartphones worth $40 billion (approximately Rs 3 lakh crores) in India.
A person familiar with this said in a conversation with ET, ¡°Samsung is likely to diversify its production lines for making smartphones to India under the PLI (Production Linked Incentive) scheme and this will have an impact in its existing capabilities across various countries like Vietnam.¡±
Today, Vietnam stands to be the second-largest smartphone exporter in the world, after China. People familiar with the matter state that the current decision has been made under the new PLI scheme. As per a senior government official, out of the $4 billion worth phones that will be made in India, phones of factory price of over $200 could account for over $25 billion and most of the phones manufactured in this category will be exported.
This current move could help India abstain from getting cheap imports from ASEAN countries to India. And from the looks of it, Samsung already looks prepared.
It already has its largest smartphone manufacturing unit in India, Noida where it already exports devices from India to other parts of the world. Moreover, last quarter, with anti-China sentiments looming in India, Samsung became #2 brand in India. Today, Samsung is making 50 percent of phones in Vietnam, according to industry estimates. It also has manufacturing facilities in Indonesia and Brazil.
It had a massive facility in China which it decided to shut down last year. It now also plans to wind down its facilities in South Korea where manufacturing costs are going through the roof.?