A new report out of Korea claims that Samsung Electronics is going to increase the proportion of production of smartphones in Vietnam from 30% to 40% in 2016, and that this is the first time that the proportion of production in Vietnam will surpass that of its facilities in China. It's also said that Samsung is going to begin producing household appliances like ACs, TVs and refrigerators in the country from next year. From the looks of it this means that Vietnam will emerge as the biggest production base for Samsung products ranging from mobile devices to appliances.
Expansion of social overhead capital and cheap labor cost is reportedly what's enticing Samsung to shift the bulk of its production to this country, and even as China's labor and tax regulations get more strict, labor expenses are still almost half of China in Vietnam. The report does quote an unnamed person associated with Samsung who says that while the company's new production facilities will come online in Vietnam next year, it can't be discussed just how much the production of new products will increase at these facilities.
