Samsung repeatedly affirmed that Vietnam is its largest global strategic base not only for production but also for research and development.

Samsung has affirmed that it will continue us to choose Vietnam as its biggest production base, from which Samsung’s mobile phones will go to the world market.

While some economists warned of the possibility of Vietnam lagging further behind regional countries, others believe that Vietnam will still perform well.

Vietnamese enterprises are still hoping to become vendors for Samsung, but need to change their ways of doing business if they want to succeed, analysts say.

VietNamNet Bridge - After December 31, 2018, Samsung’s hand-held devices will no longer be produced in Tianjin, China, where its second largest factory operates.

VietNamNet Bridge - The slowdown in demand for mobile phones may affect Samsung's operations in Vietnam, which could affect the domestic economy. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Only 14 percent of Vietnamese private enterprises are supplying goods and services to foreign invested enterprises (FIEs).

If a third Samsung facility is built, Vietnam will be involved more deeply in Samsung’s huge supply chain, according to Nguyen Van Toan, deputy chair of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises (VAFIEs).

Any changes to be made by Samsung are expected to have an impact on Vietnam because of its high contribution to the country’s export and GDP growth. 

Emerging brands have been taking action to strengthen their presence in the domestic smartphone market. However, the face of the market is expected to stay the same in the near future.

Huawei, Xiaomi and Nokia launched new products recently to compete with Samsung and Oppo, the two big players in the mid-tier market segment. 

 Samsung Electronics expects to post record operating profit in the third quarter, helped by strong demand for its memory chips.

The domestic market is being dominated by foreign brands, but Vietnam-made products are still available, targeting low-income earners.

Vietnamese businesses cannot squeeze into foreign conglomerates’ global production chains, even though they can make products satisfying requirements by importers in developed countries.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese technology engineers are respected in multi-nationals as they have high qualifications and work hard.

Vietnam has become an important production base where valuable industrial products such as mobile phones and tablets are made. However, Vietnamese enterprises still cannot find positions in global supply chains.

Vietnam has been excluded from multinational groups’ global production chains because of its weak supporting industries.

VietNamNet Bridge - In the last 30 years, Vietnam has attracted massive amounts of FDI but has missed opportunities to develop supporting industries.

VietNamNet Bridge - Samsung, Oppo and Apple topped the list of the best selling smartphones in the Vietnamese market in 2017.

GSO (General Statistics Office) has released a report showing that labor productivity is VND93.2 million per worker, or $4,159, in accordance with 2017 prices.