When the COVID19 pandemic first began, South Korea was the country hit the hardest after China. The virus has since caused havoc across the globe while strict measures taken by the South Korean government have enabled the company to put a lid on the situation.
Samsung’s manufacturing facilities had to suffer shutdowns due to confirmed coronavirus cases. At one point, it was reported that the company was planning to shift premium phone production to Vietnam to offset delays at its Gumi plant in South Korea.
Related: Samsung shifts its smartphone production to Vietnam due to the fast spread of coronavirus
However, Samsung appears to have given up on that idea as South Korea is now one of the few countries where the COVID19 situation is under control. Sammobile reported.
Samsung abandons plan to shift premium phone production
The Gumi plant in South Korea is where Samsung’s premium smartphones like the Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip are manufactured. It had to be shut down for a couple of days due to confirmed COVID19 cases. The bulk of its smartphone manufacturing is still done in Vietnam and the company was thinking about temporarily moving the production of these devices to the country as well.
The COVID19 situation in South Korea was much worse at that time so it would have made sense for the company to do that in order to ensure that it could continue to put these phones on the market. The virus had struck not long after the Galaxy Z Flip was launched so it was important for Samsung to ensure a steady supply of its new foldable smartphone.
Reports out of South Korea suggest that Samsung has withdrawn this plan because the situation is now under control in its home country even as the virus causes disruption across the globe. Earlier this week, South Korea reported no locally transmitted cases of the virus, a highly commendable achievement.
If anything, there’s now the expectation that the Gumi plant will be able to plug the production gap for other markets should the pandemic cause disruption at some of Samsung’s other manufacturing facilities across the globe.
Apple hirings in Vietnam fuel business speculation
Tech giant Apple has listed many jobs in Vietnam on LinkedIn recently, including an operations manager based in Hanoi.
The job description says Apple is looking for an operations manager to “help the company foster growth in this market, leading “a team of engineers in support of new product development as well as sustaining operations in ensuring the contract manufacturer readiness for very high volume production.”
The multinational company has been posting many job openings over the past few months, from senior role like regional operations and new product manager in Hanoi to camera ops test engineering in Saigon. VNExpress, a local media reported.
The recruitment move adds credence to reports that Apple could increase outsourcing manufacturing to Vietnam.
Foxconn, the world’s biggest electronics contract manufacturer and a key supplier of Apple, has a facility in Bac Ninh Province, northern Vietnam to produce for Apple.
Also read: Apple to move Airpods production to Vietnam due to barriers and risks from coronavirus
The Nikkei Asian Review in mid-June last year reported that the U.S.-based multinational asked its suppliers looked for ways to shift “15 percent to 30 percent of production from China to other parts of Southeast Asia” amid the trade war between two of the world largest economies.