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Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, Vingroup, will introduce its first smartphones on December 14 as part of its tech expansion. The company will launch four new models under the brand name “Vsmart,” at the Landmark 81 skyscraper in Ho Chi Minh City.
The phones are produced at Vingroup’s factory in the northern city of Hai Phong, which is capable of making five million phones a year in its first phase of operations, a Vingroup statement said.
The company will utilize Spanish experts for product development as it owns 51 percent of Spanish technology firm BQ.
“We hope that Vsmart phones, alongside VinFast cars, will contribute to the development of Vietnam industry and bring Vietnamese brands to the world,” said Nguyen Viet Quang, vice chairman and chief executive officer of Vingroup.
Vingroup became the country’s first full-fledged domestic car maker two months ago, introducing three new car models. In June, it established the VinSmart Co. to produce smartphones and other smart electronic devices with a registered capital of VND3 trillion ($131.54 million).
VinSmart is also working with Qualcomm and Google’s Alphabet Inc to “update to the most advanced technology in the smartphone sector,” the statement said.
The company will be the newest phone maker seeking success in Vietnam, a country of 95 million people. The market is currently dominated by Samsung and Apple phones. Vietnam is the largest smartphone production base for Samsung Electronics.
Vingroup said its VinSmart factory will also produce smart TVs and other smart products in the future.
