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Samsung reportedly planned to increase smartphone production through Chinese joint-design-manufacturing (JDM) and original-design-manufacturing (ODM) partners from about 44 million units in 2023 to 67 million in 2024. The report, published by The Elec on May 26, 2024, described a cost-cutting push focused mainly on affordable Galaxy phones—not a return to large-scale Samsung-owned smartphone assembly in China.
The figures were reported plans based on unnamed sources, not audited shipments or a new 2026 announcement. Samsung did not publicly confirm the specific 67-million-unit target in the sources reviewed.
What Samsung reportedly planned
The Elec reported that Samsung intended to raise China-linked JDM/ODM production from approximately 44 million phones in 2023 to approximately 67 million in 2024.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match- Increase: about 23 million units
- Year-over-year growth: approximately 52.3%
- Reported total 2024 production target: 270 million phones, up from 253 million
- Implied outsourced share: 67 million divided by 270 million, or about 24.8%, commonly rounded to 25%
There is a numerical inconsistency in The Elec report: its headline and broader context support 44 million units, while part of the article body says 4.4 million. That appears to be a typographical or translation error. The 4.4-million figure would not fit the reported 67-million total or the approximately 25% calculation.
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These numbers should be treated as production targets, not confirmed final output. Planned production can differ from completed production, shipments, sell-in, and consumer sell-through.
What JDM and ODM mean
JDM and ODM arrangements involve considerably more than paying an outside factory to assemble a Samsung-designed phone.
| Model | Design | Component sourcing | Manufacturing | Brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung in-house | Samsung | Samsung and approved suppliers | Samsung or approved factories | Samsung |
| ODM | Mostly external partner | Usually external partner | External partner | Customer brand |
| JDM | Shared between brand and partner | Often shared or partner-led | External partner | Customer brand |
An ODM—original-design manufacturer—typically designs much of the device, sources components, and manufactures it for sale under another company’s brand. A JDM—joint-design manufacturer—shares some design and development responsibilities with the brand.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteIndustry reporting sometimes uses the terms loosely. In Samsung’s reported arrangement, Chinese partners handled significant design and component-procurement work, while Samsung sold the finished phones under the Galaxy name. Calling this ordinary contract assembly understates the partners’ role.
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Which Galaxy phones were affected?
The evidence points primarily to low-end and budget Galaxy smartphones. The reported strategy was not presented as a plan to outsource Samsung’s flagship S-series or foldable phones.
Samsung began expanding its use of Chinese ODMs around 2019. Earlier reporting identified the Galaxy A6s as an early Samsung smartphone produced through that type of arrangement and linked additional low-end models to Wingtech. The Elec’s earlier reporting also described outsourcing as part of Samsung’s response to cost pressure.
That history does not establish that every Galaxy A-series phone—or any particular 2024 model—was made by a specific partner. Model-level claims require separate evidence.
Why Samsung wanted more outsourcing
The central rationale was cost reduction. Budget phones are difficult to price competitively when a major brand bears the entire cost of design, engineering, procurement, manufacturing, and factory capacity.
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Lower costs and less capital intensity
Chinese ODMs can spread engineering, sourcing, and manufacturing costs across several customers. Samsung can therefore use established platforms and supplier relationships instead of developing every entry-level phone entirely in-house. The available reporting does not quantify Samsung’s savings per device or its total financial benefit.
Pressure from Chinese competitors
Samsung faced intense competition in affordable smartphones from Chinese brands including Xiaomi and Huawei. Outsourcing could help Samsung compete in price-sensitive markets, particularly where small differences in specifications and retail prices influence demand.
Faster development and regional flexibility
Established ODMs may be able to reuse component platforms, engineering resources, and supplier networks. Chinese partners may also have strong knowledge of local component markets and the requirements of regional low-cost devices.
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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →These incentives indicate a targeted effort to improve the economics of budget phones, not proof that Samsung was abandoning its own engineering capabilities.
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Which companies were involved?
Wingtech is the clearest named example in the available Samsung-related reporting. Broader industry coverage identifies Wingtech, Huaqin, and Longcheer as major China-based smartphone ODMs.
However, the 2024 report does not provide a complete partner-by-partner breakdown of the proposed 67 million units. Huaqin and Longcheer should therefore be described as important industry participants, not automatically as confirmed suppliers of all Samsung’s reported JDM production.
The broader industry trend helps explain Samsung’s approach: Counterpoint Research reported that ODM-designed phones represented 44% of global smartphone shipments in 2024. That statistic applies to the global market, not to Samsung specifically.
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China-linked production does not mean all Samsung phones were made in China
The headline can be misleading if “China” is treated as a single manufacturing category. At least four distinct arrangements must be separated:
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- Phones designed or produced by Chinese-owned ODM/JDM companies.
- Phones made in Samsung-owned factories in China.
- Phones assembled in Samsung facilities in Vietnam, India, Brazil, Indonesia, or Korea.
- Phones assembled in one country with components sourced globally.
A Chinese ODM’s involvement does not prove that final assembly occurred in China. Chinese ODM companies have expanded manufacturing in other countries, and the partner’s nationality is not the same thing as the phone’s country of origin.
Samsung’s 2024 business report listed approximately 193.5 million smartphones of reported output and identified major production locations including Korea, Vietnam, India, Brazil, and Indonesia. That figure is not directly interchangeable with The Elec’s reported 270-million target. The numbers may use different definitions, periods, or production categories, and the available sources do not permit a definitive reconciliation.
The strategic trade-off
Potential benefits
- Lower development and bill-of-materials costs.
- More competitive pricing in the sub-$250 segment.
- Faster launches for inexpensive models.
- Access to mature component and supplier networks.
- Less need for Samsung to dedicate internal resources to every entry-level design.
Potential risks
- Less direct control over industrial design, components, and manufacturing decisions.
- Greater dependence on Chinese suppliers and partner capacity.
- Less differentiation between inexpensive Galaxy phones and competing Chinese devices.
- Additional geopolitical and supply-chain exposure.
- Pressure on Samsung’s internal engineering and domestic supplier ecosystem.
- Potential quality, repairability, software-support, or consistency problems if cost reductions become excessive.
Earlier industry coverage raised concerns that extensive ODM dependence could weaken Samsung’s own capabilities and disrupt its supplier base. Those are strategic risks, not evidence of a specific systematic defect in Samsung phones.
What the report did—and did not—show
The report showed a likely shift in the way Samsung managed its affordable-phone cost structure. It did not show that Samsung was reopening or materially expanding large Samsung-owned smartphone factories in China. Nor did it prove that every budget Galaxy model used a Chinese ODM.
Coverage also connected the production story with meetings between Samsung Executive Chairman Jay Y. Lee and Chinese officials, including Premier Li Qiang. Chinese officials encouraged Korean companies to continue investment and cooperation in China, but that context is not proof that the meetings caused Samsung’s production plan. The outsourcing increase was also consistent with Samsung’s longer-running effort to reduce the cost of low-end phones.
The most accurate reading is narrower: according to a May 2024 industry report, Samsung planned to use Chinese JDM/ODM partners for roughly 67 million affordable smartphones in 2024, up from about 44 million the previous year. The plan represented approximately one-quarter of the reported 270-million-unit target, but its final execution was not independently confirmed by the sources reviewed.
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