With U.S. export restrictions on China mounting up, Samsung Electronics is turning its attention to India as a potential manufacturing hub for various products, from semiconductors to phones. The company has already manufactured numerous low-cost and mid-range phones in India. But the Korean tech giant may increase its reliance on its infrastructure across the Indian subcontinent, with a new report suggesting that Samsung is considering manufacturing its next-gen foldable phones there.
Samsung already took a big step into manufacturing high-end phones in India with the Galaxy S23 series' release. According to the company, Galaxy S23, Galaxy S23+, and Galaxy S23 Ultra models sold in India are manufactured locally by Samsung. In addition, some of the recent additions to One UI were also developed at the Samsung R&D Institute in Noida, where engineers helped bring many features to the Galaxy S23 series.
Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 could be made in India
Samsung is considering making hefty investments in India to set up a new manufacturing hub for its next-generation foldable phones, says a new report (via Business Korea).
Assuming that Samsung decides to go on with this plan, it may manufacture and assemble the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 in India. However, it's not entirely clear if Samsung would want to manufacture all of its foldable phones destined for the global market in India or if the company would use the same strategy as it did with the Galaxy S23 series, i.e., manufacture locally and sell locally.
Either way, Samsung appears to want to diversify its foldable phone supply chain. But despite the U.S. restrictions on China, other reports claim that Samsung may want to add China's BOE to its list of partners and stop relying entirely on its in-house Display arm. If all of this is true, it could mean that the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5 will use BOE displays assembled on-device in India.