Vietnam’s first-half cell phone production tops 107 million units

The first six months saw 107.3 million mobile phones made and assembled in the Southeast Asian country, a massive 68.8% increase compared to the same period last year, according to the General Statistics Office.

The export value of cellphones and components in the six-month period topped US$14.7 billion, up 27% from the first half of 2014.

The General Statistics Office also reported that 2.16 million televisions, 1.38 million motorbikes, and 88,100 cars were made in Vietnam from the start of the year to the end of June.

The TV and car sectors also posted solid production growth rates of 40.3% and 57.6%, respectively.

The robust manufacturing of mobile phones in Vietnam was mostly driven by foreign players, including Samsung Electronics Vietnam, Microsoft Mobile Vietnam, and LG Electronics.

Samsung is operating seven projects worth a total of US$11.3 billion in the Southeast Asian country, the two biggest of which are mobile phone production complexes in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen, two provinces in the north.

The Republic of Korea's electronics behemoth has so far channeled US$2.5 billion and US$5 billion into these complexes, respectively.

Microsoft, meanwhile, inaugurated its first authorized resale store in Vietnam last week.

It was reportedly shutting down two handset plants it inherited from Nokia in China and relocating part of the manufacturing to Vietnam, according to media reports in February.

The General Statistics Office also said Vietnam’s gross domestic product expanded 6.28% year-on-year in the first six month of this year, whereas the country suffered a US$3.8 billion trade deficit.

In the first half of 2014, the country enjoyed a US$1.9 billion trade surplus.

Vietnam’s exports in the six-month period of 2015 topped US$77.7 billion, up 9.3% from the same period last year, but imports soared 17.7% to US$81.5 billion, according to the office.