60 million through JDM
Samsung manufactured approximately 300 million smartphones in 2021, TheElec has learned.
According to sources, it manufactured 238.88 million units on its own. Over 60 million units were manufactured through joint development manufacturers such as Wintech and Huaqin. In total, Samsung made slightly over 300 million smartphones.
The production volume indicates that Samsung shipped late-200 million units of smartphones last year.
Shipment volume is usually lower than production volume as it takes around one to two months for products that are made to ship out while distributors and telcos can secure slightly less volumes than the number of units made.
Samsung had aimed to ship 300 million units last year; still the number of smartphones it made is encouraging for the company considering it faced production problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam, the global chip shortage and low sales of the Galaxy S21 series.
Galaxy S21 series, like Galaxy S20 series before it, shipped only mid-20 million units for the whole year.
This is substantially lower than prior performances of the S series, which usually sold between 35 million units to 40 million units.
Sources said Samsung believed it could have sold more Galaxy S21 series if it didn’t face production problems in Vietnam from the pandemic.
The company also focused on shipping its Galaxy A and M series while diversifying its component supply chain to increase shipment.
Meanwhile, Samsung is aiming to ship 334 million units of smartphones this year: 285 million units from its own production and the rest will be from joint development manufacturers.