Samsung cuts smartphone production at Vietnamese factory

Samsung has cut production at its smartphone factory in Vietnam. That’s what employees tell Reuters. The tech giant already reported this quarter that demand for smartphones has fallen due to economic uncertainties.

Factory workers tell Reuters that production at Samsung’s Vietnamese factory has been scaled back and that they have less work as a result. An employee says that they currently only work three or four days a week in the factory. Some production lines are being changed from a six-day work week to a four-day work week. Overtime would no longer be necessary.

The factory in the Vietnamese province of Thái Nguyên accounts for more than a third of Samsung’s smartphone production. The tech giant delivered about 270 million smartphones last year and its factory in Vietnam produces according to the company about 100 million devices annually. It is not immediately clear whether Samsung will transfer production to other production locations; Samsung also makes phones in South Korea and India.

At the same time, several factory workers who have worked at Samsung for more than five years tell Reuters that they have never seen such a large reduction in production. “Of course there is a quiet season every year, often around June and July, but that means no overtime, not this kind of shortening of the working day,” said 28-year-old factory worker Pham Thi Thuong. She also said that managers told employees that unsold inventories are high and that there are not many new orders coming in. That agrees with previous posts.

Samsung tells Reuters it “hasn’t spoken” about a cut in its annual production targets in Vietnam. In the recent presentation of its quarterly figures, Samsung did indicate that the company is seeing a decline in demand for phones, partly due to economic concerns. The company does not expect a large increase in smartphone sales for the rest of the year. Samsung is coming soon with new foldables.