Apple plans to take a $1 billion bite into central Vietnam

Vietnam may have a chance to transform itself into a global technology player.

Apple might be quietly creating a data center in Vietnam, a local online business news provider reported.

The technology giant may have laid its eyes on Da Nang, CafeBiz cited a top official from the central city as saying at a meeting last week to review foreign direct investment in Da Nang.

According to the official, Apple Inc could invest up to $1 billion in the center, which would function as a research and development center with engineers crafting future products for the Asian market.

Apple last year opened a subsidiary company in Vietnam so that it can directly import and distribute iPhones and other electronic products in one of the fastest growing smart phone markets in Asia-Pacific.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based firm was set up in October last year with registered capital of VND15 billion ($672,000), according to Vietnam’s national business registry website.

The number of mobile phone subscriptions in Vietnam, which has a population of more than 90 million, grew 29 percent from 2009 to 2015 to 127 million, latest official data from the Ministry of Information and Communications showed.

Apple is expected to officially announce whether it will go ahead with the plan by the end of this month.

By An Hong / VnExpress