Why it matters: Setting up shop in one of the world's last remaining untapped markets will allow Samsung to make phones at a lower cost, boosting profit at a time when other markets have cooled.
Samsung Electronics has opened what it is calling the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturing facility. Located in Noida, India, on the outskirts of New Delhi, the factory will nearly double Samsung’s Noida unit capacity from around 68 million units a year to 120 million annually according to a report from Bloomberg.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Moon Jae-in jointly inaugurated the new factory.
Most major markets around the globe have become saturated with mobile devices, resulting in a slowdown of sales. Those in India have been a bit slower to hop aboard the bandwagon, however, which now makes the region a prime sales target.
According to International Data Corp, India’s smartphone market grew 14 percent last year to 124 million units, the fastest rate of growth among the top 20 markets. Faisal Kawoosa, who leads new initiatives at researcher CMR Pvt, noted the country has a population of around 1.3 billion people but only 425 million are smartphone users.
Samsung’s new factory will build both low-end handsets starting under $100 as well as flagship devices like the Galaxy S9.
The expansion, which will be completed in phases, should be wrapped up by 2020.
