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It follows closely the launch of Apple’s subsidiary Apple Vietnam LLC in Ho Chi Minh city last October

Apple has announced that it will invest up to US$1 billion in a data centre in Vietnam. It will be located in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, and will be used to carry out R&D.

The establishment of its own data centre is part of Apple’s strategy to reduce reliance on third-party data partners such as Amazon and Microsoft.

This will be Apple’s second venture into the Vietnamese market. Last October, Reuters reported that Apple invested 15 billion dong (US$673,000) to build a subsidiary company Apple Vietnam LLC in the country. This will allow iPhone manufacturers to directly conduct sales in the market, and will also provide Apple-related information technology, maintenance as well as advising services.

Also Read: Startup Spring: A busy time ahead for Vietnam’s startups

Within the APAC region, Vietnam is currently the most lucrative market for Apple products. In the first half of 2014, iPhone sales in the country nearly tripled, surpassing even neighbouring China.

Apple’s major rival Samsung is also eyeing the Vietnamese market. It plans to open a US$300 million data centre–also in Hanoi.

The Vietnam tech ecosystem has seen a flurry of investment activity in the past few months. Just yesterday, fintech startup MoMo announced that it raised US$28 million in Series B funding; Two weeks ago, leading startup accelerator and incubator 500 Startups launched a US$10 million micro-fund with a goal of investing up to 150 Vietnamese startups.

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