Samsung is now looking forward to outsourcing smartphone design and production to Chinese companies. The giant has allocated the design and production of some cheap phones to the original device manufacturers (ODM) since 2019.
If the new report is to be believed, the Korean giant will increase the production of smartphones by Chinese ODMs, or joint device manufacturers (JDMs), from 44 million units last year to 67 million units by the end of this year. This hinted that outsourced smartphones will account for 25% of Samsung’s reported production goal of 270 million units in 2024.
The report hinted at the increased reliance on Chinese brands for outsourcing production and the fact that 28 million units were being outsourced to factories in Vietnam. The brand first outsourced the production of some smartphones back in 2019, reportedly making an offer to cut costs and lower prices. The Korean brand relies on this production strategy for its budget-able smartphones rather than flagship smartphones, though.
However, in a way, this is not incontrovertibly a minus, as the company could use this outsourcing strategy to offer more competitively priced budget phones. But this does raise the possibility of Samsung’s budget being lower-quality offerings, as ODM partners could supposedly cut corners to make a profit.
The reports revealed that the Samsung Galaxy A03 is an outsourced phone, and the expectation regarding it was that it would deliver good battery life and various notable quality-of-life improvements. Somewhere, the device gets criticized for its cheap construction and laggy performance. Notably, Samsung was the only Android brand on the list of the top 10 best-selling smartphones in 2022 and 2023.
