Did you know: Samsung phones aren’t made where you think

You’d imagine that the majority of Samsung phones would be made in the company’s home country of South Korea, but you’d be wrong. The second guess would be China, since the country is known as the “world’s factory” and specializes in smartphone manufacturing, but that’s also not correct.

Don’t get me wrong, Samsung phones are made in both of these countries, but the devil is in the details. Samsung focuses on high-end phones in one and low-end models in the other, and it doesn’t even own the manufacturing facilities in one of these countries. But I’m getting ahead of myself here — let’s first talk about what makes Samsung special when it comes to smartphone making.

Here’s something the majority of people don’t realize: most smartphone brands don’t actually make their own phones. Sure, they may design them, and they even design the SoC (System on a Chip) in some cases — think Apple and Google — but the individual parts are manufactured by a variety of production partners, and the final assembly is handled by an EMS (Electronics Manufacturing Services) provider like Foxconn. Pixels and iPhones are good examples, both of which are actually made by the same company.

Samsung is different. It’s the most vertically integrated company in the industry, which means it is involved in almost every manufacturing step. Not only does it design the phones — as most companies do — but it also manufactures many of the core parts that go into the devices.

Samsung makes some of the best — if not the best — displays on the market. It also produces memory chips (like DRAM and NAND), Exynos processors, camera sensors, and batteries. All of these are also being sold to its rivals. For example, both the latest iPhones and Pixels use Samsung-made display panels.

It doesn’t make every single component, though. Some of Samsung’s phones use Snapdragon processors made by Qualcomm, and the Gorilla Glass found on most models comes from Corning. But Samsung does handle the “heavy lifting” by producing the most expensive and important components in-house.

The final step is assembly. Unlike most phone brands that outsource this to a third party, Samsung handles the vast majority of assembly in its own factories. However, there is a catch: this isn’t true for every single device, which is something I’ll talk about in more detail in the next section.

Samsung manufactures and sells around 230 million phones per year, making it the world’s largest Android smartphone brand. But where do these millions of devices actually come from? The map likely looks different than what you’d expect.

Vietnam (the global powerhouse): Around half of all Galaxy phones are made in Vietnam, where Samsung operates massive complexes in the Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces. This is Samsung’s primary manufacturing hub, supplying the bulk of the phones sold in North America and Europe. In fact, back in August 2025, Samsung hit a historic milestone in the country: its Vietnamese factories have produced over two billion handsets since they first opened in 2009.

India (the world’s largest factory): Next up is India, home to the largest smartphone manufacturing facility on the planet, located in Noida. This plant alone can technically produce up to 120 million units per year. While it was originally intended to serve India’s massive domestic market, it has pivoted into a major export hub, shipping phones to Western markets.

South Korea (flagship focused): Samsung also maintains production in its home country of South Korea, but the volume is said to be surprisingly small — handling roughly 20 million units annually, or less than 10% of the total output. The factory primarily focuses on cutting-edge flagships (like the Galaxy Z Fold 7) and devices for the local Korean market.

Brazil and Indonesia (local specialists): Samsung has a strong presence in Brazil with factories in Campinas and Manaus. Because Brazil imposes high import fees, it makes sense for Samsung to build locally. Similarly, in Indonesia — a massive market with over 285 million people — Samsung operates a local factory to navigate high import taxes as well as other restrictions, and to meet regional demand.

However, Samsung phones are still made in China — they just aren’t made by Samsung. Like Apple and Google, Samsung outsources a significant chunk of its production to partners. It’s estimated that roughly 25% (over 60 million units) of their annual production is handled by Chinese companies known as ODMs (Original Design Manufacturers), such as Wingtech.

Unlike typical outsourcing, where a partner just assembles a phone, these ODMs also handle the design, inside and out. Samsung provides the specifications, and the ODM sources the parts, designs, and builds the device. Samsung then audits the final product to ensure it meets its “look and feel” standards before it gets shipped to retailers. This strategy is mostly reserved for budget-friendly models like the Galaxy M series and specific Galaxy A models. It allows Samsung to keep prices low against fierce Chinese rivals by taking advantage of “economies of scale” provided by companies like Wingtech that are specialists in manufacturing cheap devices for multiple brands.

There are several strategic reasons for this global spread. The first is risk aversion. Relying on a single location — or even a single factory — is very risky. A natural disaster like a massive flood — or a man-made mistake that causes damage to the facility — could shut down production completely. The same applies to labor strikes. By spreading out, Samsung ensures that if one factory stops, the rest of the world keeps getting its phones.

The second reason is pure financial logic. Many countries impose high import fees on finished electronics to encourage local job growth. By setting up manufacturing in places like Brazil and Indonesia, Samsung avoids these taxes, allowing it to sell phones at much more competitive prices. It also helps to get products to local customers faster. Some countries even have incentives to manufacture locally that benefit companies, like the Make in India push, for example.

The third reason is connected to the first two, as it brings risk aversion and common business sense into account. Manufacturing in different countries helps companies minimize their involvement in trade wars. If a country or a region imposes large tariffs on imports from a specific country (like China, for example), that creates a problem for a company that produces all or most of its products in that country. By manufacturing in several countries, companies can move part of the production to other locations to minimize their losses when a trade war starts.

Did you know that most Samsung phones are made in Vietnam and India? Let me know via the poll at the top of this page, and share your thoughts with other readers in the comments.