Smartphone exports drop in November

Vietnam produced 20.6 million phones in November and export of phones and phone components were worth $5 billion, according to the General Statistics Office. This is the third straight month the export value of phone and components has dropped.

Smartphone production in the first 11 months decreased by over 7% year-on-year. Most of the smartphones produced in Vietnam are exported to the western market.

Normally, phone output increases before Christmas but it has dropped this year because inflation pressures have prompted companies to limit production.

Of the total smartphones output in Vietnam, Samsung Vietnam contributes a half. The tech giant recorded an export turnover of over $34 billion in the first half of this year, accounting for more than 18% of the country’s total.

Samsung Vietnam has reduced smartphone production twice this year, the first time in the first half of the year over Covid-19 impacts and the second early November, according to Reuters.

Vietnam recorded a total export turnover of $342.21 billion in the first 11 months, while import turnover was $331.61 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $0.78 billion, according to the General Statistics Office. The surplus in the same period last year was $0.6 billion.