Jul 9, 2018 - Technology

Samsung pivots to India with "world's largest mobile factory"

Marisa Fernandez

Man holding Samsung cell phone — Samsung president of mobile communications business DJ Koh. Photo: Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images

Samsung has opened the “world’s largest mobile factory” in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India on Monday, veering away from Chinese investment, the company announced in a press release Monday.

The details: The South Korean giant will nearly double capacity for cell phones from 68 million a year to 120 million. Expansion is expected to be completed by 2020.

Our thought bubble: Expanding investment in India is nothing new for Samsung, or other tech companies like Apple, says Axios’ Ina Fried. It’s not like India is a global manufacturing hub; rather, the investment in India is a requirement to sell smartphones people there can actually afford. Phones made outside India are subject to big tariffs.

Per Bloomberg: “Last year, India overtook the U.S. to become the world’s second-largest smartphone market after China. There will be 780 million connected smartphones in 2021, compared with 359 million in 2016, according to a study by Cisco Systems.”

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Samsung pivots to India with "world's largest mobile factory"

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