Smartphone giant Vivo opens new manufacturing complex near rival Huawei’s research campus

This facility, which started construction in 2017, will have a monthly production capacity of six million smartphones, employ nearly 20,000 employees and play a pivotal role in Vivo’s production for the global market, according to a company statement.

Vivo’s latest production base – comprising 14 buildings, including dormitories and other amenities, spread across 34.5 hectares – expands the company’s Asian manufacturing network, which includes plants in the southwestern city of Chongqing as well as in India and Indonesia. A Vivo representative said the company had no further comment beyond its announcement.

The company’s new manufacturing complex is also located around 20 kilometres from smartphone rival Huawei Technologies’ Ox Horn Campus, a research and development facility on the southern shore of Songshan Lake in Dongguan.

Vivo, which previously focused on low- to medium-priced smartphones models, has also set its sights on the premium segment of the market amid the international roll-out of 5G mobile networks.

The company was the world’s fifth-largest smartphone vendor in the first quarter, according to separate reports from research firms IDC and Canalys. Separate data from research outfit Counterpoint, however, put Vivo at sixth place behind Oppo in the same period.