US-based Coherent adds 30,000 square meters in Dong Nai: an optical components supply network opening in the south

US-based Coherent leased an additional 30,000 square meters of ready-built factory space in late June 2026 at "KTG Industrial Nhon Trach 2" in Dong Nai Province in southern Vietnam. This is the company's second location within Dong Nai Province, a move to add to its manufacturing capacity for optical communication and laser components. Coherent, a core supplier of optical components for AI that received a $2 billion strategic investment from Nvidia, has explicitly stated that its next focus will be semiconductor and AI investment in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). This phase, in which the AI supply chain in southern Vietnam is thickening, is a concrete entry point for Japanese optical and precision component makers to break into the local supply network.

Coherent adds a 30,000 m2 factory lease in Dong Nai

The 30,000 square meters leased this time is ready-to-move-in, ready-built factory space within the Nhon Trach 2 industrial park. Rather than handling everything itself from land acquisition through construction, the company is renting an existing factory building to ramp up production quickly, aiming to respond to rising AI-related demand in a short time frame. Coherent's Chief Supply Chain Officer, Jeff Place, commented, "Vietnam is playing an increasingly important role in Coherent's global supply strategy, and we will continue expanding our investment in the country."

At the same time, the company positioned Ho Chi Minh City as a "priority location for expanding investment in semiconductors, AI, and other advanced industries," signaling a commitment to strengthen ties with local universities and develop advanced talent. Nguyen Van Duoc, Chairman of the HCMC People's Committee, emphasized the city's support in the form of technology infrastructure, industrial land, and a favorable investment environment. However, specific figures such as the investment amount and start date in HCMC have not been disclosed this time.

How Nvidia's investment shifted the center of gravity of the supply chain

Behind this move is the strategic partnership with Nvidia announced on March 2, 2026. Nvidia invested $2 billion in Coherent and simultaneously committed to large-volume purchases of optical networking and laser products. In next-generation data centers, power-efficient optical interconnects are considered key to resolving bottlenecks in AI processing, and the optical transceivers and lasers that Coherent makes are among the core components involved.

Coherent's fiscal 2025 revenue was approximately $5.8 billion, and its market capitalization exceeds $70 billion; besides Nvidia, it supplies components to Google and Meta in the US as well. As long as AI infrastructure buildout continues, demand for optical components will not shrink for the foreseeable future. The decision to place a portion of that manufacturing capacity in southern Vietnam should be read not merely as a cost response, but as a strategic choice about where to anchor the center of gravity of the AI supply chain.

Twenty years in Vietnam, and the shape of the Dong Nai concentration

Coherent's presence in Vietnam spans more than 20 years. It began production of thermoelectric coolers and optical components in Binh Duong (VSIP1) in 2005, and brought a second site online at Yen Phong Industrial Park in Bac Ninh Province in 2019. Then, on July 28, 2025, it started up a $127 million plant at Nhon Trach Industrial Park in Dong Nai Province, where it manufactures precision materials and photonics components for smartphones, EVs, and medical devices.

In 2024, Dong Nai Province issued investment registration certificates for three projects across Nhon Trach 1 and 2, with registered capital of nearly $1 billion and projected annual revenue of over $1.2 billion. This 30,000 m2 lease is a further move to solidify that concentration. While attention to semiconductor back-end concentration tends to focus on the north (moves by Intel and Samsung), the fact that a thick cluster of optical components is forming in southern Dong Nai shifts one of the underlying assumptions in choosing where to set up operations.

How the local industry is reading this

People in local contract manufacturing say that "the immediate lease of ready-built factory space reflects the delivery-time pressure on AI-related components." The choice to launch production without waiting for land development or new construction is a decision made to meet a demand peak, suggesting that pressure from downstream customers to increase output is considerable.

On the investment-promotion side, practitioners have been discussing the fact that HCMC put university partnerships and talent development at the forefront of its investment terms. Beyond simply offering industrial land, how to build a local talent pipeline for semiconductors and advanced technology is becoming the focus of the next round of competition to attract investment. At Japanese manufacturers' local sites too, securing skilled workers in optics and precision machining is a common headache, and Coherent's investment in talent could spill over into local wage and hiring benchmarks.

Meanwhile, industrial park officials in the south are also voicing hope that this is "a good opportunity to promote the south as an optical device hub, countering the semiconductor cluster in the north." Dong Nai is seen as a location well suited to export logistics for precision components, thanks to good access to airports and ports.

The move Japanese optical and precision component makers should make now

The most practically useful perspective at this stage is to view Coherent's Dong Nai site not as a "customer" but as a "starting point." Once mass production of optical components ramps up in the south, demand for auxiliary materials, jigs and tools, inspection equipment, and outsourced precision machining will arise around it at the same time. For Japanese makers of optical lens polishing, coatings, precision machining, and measuring instruments, rather than trying to break into Nvidia's supply chain with a finished product, setting up a sales base in the south as a secondary or tertiary supplier supporting Coherent's local production is a realistic and fast route of entry.

The concrete action can be narrowed to one thing: create an opportunity for a local buyer meeting where you can meet directly with Coherent's procurement department around Nhon Trach in Dong Nai Province. If you are a Japanese company that already has a base in the south, use your existing sales network to identify early what materials and outsourced work the additional line at Nhon Trach 2 will need, and prepare a short-lead-time supply proposal matched to the speed of a ready-built factory launch. Because there is a risk that the local slot will be filled while you wait for a decision from headquarters in Japan, how far in advance you can push quoting and prototyping authority down to the local office will make the difference.

The overall picture of southern Vietnam's manufacturing cluster thickening is easier to understand alongside Samsung's move to build a semiconductor packaging base and HOYA's new plant for HDD glass substrates—both of these moves. Both are investments in advanced materials and components made with an eye on AI and data center demand, and reading them from the perspective of a company trying to enter the supply chain makes the specific gaps worth targeting come into view.

Ripple effects on the market: will the south become "the south of optical devices"?

Vietnam's semiconductor and advanced-component investment has so far been discussed mainly as a concentration of back-end and testing processes. As optical component players like Coherent thicken production in the south, a new axis is added: optical interconnects for AI data centers. For Japanese manufacturers, this means that demand leaning toward optics and photonics, separate from the existing electronic component supply chain, is arising in the south.

This trend reinforces the premise that the greater Ho Chi Minh City area in the south is increasingly positioned as a component supply base for AI infrastructure. the approval of an AI-ready data center construction project in Ho Chi Minh City Combined with investments like that one, a picture emerges in which "data centers (demand)" and "optical components (supply)" sit close together in the same southern region. Component makers can get ahead by working out how to translate this proximity into their sales approach.

Practical information: points to check

• Candidate site: Nhon Trach 1 and 2 Industrial Parks, Dong Nai Province (Coherent's cluster location, with good access to airports and ports)
• Timing: additional leases of ready-built factories mean a short launch timeline. Prepare on the assumption that inquiries for materials and outsourcing will move early
• Decision-making: how much discretion over quoting and prototyping can be delegated to the local office will determine the speed of entry
• Talent: securing skilled workers in optics and precision machining is a common local challenge. Watch for changes in hiring benchmarks

Note that Coherent's additional investment in HCMC has not been disclosed in either amount or timing, so it is prudent to avoid making forward-leaning capital investment decisions until more reliable figures emerge.

Summary: the next move is sales targeted at the "starting point"

Coherent's additional 30,000 m2 lease in Dong Nai is a signal that a supply network for AI-oriented optical components is starting to take real shape in the south. What Japanese optical and precision component makers should do right now is not chase the dream of exporting finished products, but establish a sales foothold in the south as a supplier of auxiliary materials, outsourced work, and inspection services supporting local production in Dong Nai. The place to start is to make contact with procurement staff around Nhon Trach through a local base or a trading company, and bring in one concrete, short-lead-time supply proposal.

Sources

• The Investor"Leading global tech supplier Coherent plans to expand investment in HCMC"
• Vietnam Investment Review"Coherent ramps up Vietnam investment with $127 million Dong Nai factory"
• NVIDIA Newsroom"NVIDIA and Coherent Announce Strategic Partnership"