The company is allegedly turning to ODMs to help cut costs
Samsung ain’t doing so well in China, thanks to the proliferation of brands that regularly out aggressively-priced smartphones that undercut the brand’s efforts in the world’s largest mobile market. To combat this Samsung is reportedly looking into copying the same strategy that local brands like Cherry Mobile employ in the Philippines: have ODMs produce their devices for a lower cost, and then slap their logo on them (after ensuring they are up to par with Samsung’s quality standards) to sell onto the market.
According to persistent rumors, Samsung’s first ODM-manufactured phone will be the A6s, and will be produced by Wintech, the same ODM company that Xiaomi regularly taps for their smartphone production. Only entry-level and mid-range phones will be manufactured and sold this way, though company spokesmen remarked that “the company has been considering introducing the ODM system not only in China but also in other countries when needed.” If Samsung’s fortunes are reversed by their new ODM strategy in China, then it’s not far-fetched for the company to adopt the same strategy in other territories, including ours.
Leaks of the A6s has made its way to the internet, and from the looks of things, it seems like Wintech has done a great job of following Samsung’s design mantra for its mid-range smartphones, especially the recently launched Galaxy A7 (2018) and A9 (2018).
