Massive difficulties waiting for Xiaomi The smart phone market in Vietnam has been saturated by leading smart phone brands, including Samsung and Apple, putting smaller fish on the withdrawal with little to no profit. Notably, almost all of the high-end market is dominated by Samsung, Apple, and Oppo, that make up 80 per cent of smart phone sales and 90 per cent of the revenue. In the low-cost segment, the market is held by Mobiitstart, Huawei, Vivo, Asus, Lenovo, and HTC, among others. Both the high-end and low-cost segments are ripe with underground wars between competitors. Meanwhile, Xiaomi has numerous disadvantages in the war for market share, putting the top spot far out of reach. Notably, although Xiaomi appeared in Vietnam in 2014, it has yet to fight its way among the top 10 smart phone brands in Vietnam. At present, Xiaomi only contributed 0.78 per cent to smart phone sales and 0.54 per cent to the market’s total revenue. Furthermore, Xiaomi is a newcomer from China, struggling with Vietnamese customers’ deep-rooted preconceptions against low-cost “Made in China” products. All in all, Xiaomi’s low-cost strategy to gain the top spot is considered too little. Distribution system is the key Doan Hong Viet, general director of Digiworld, the distributor of Xiaomi in Vietnam, issued the plan to popularise Xiaomi’s products in 15 cities and provinces this year and to build 1,000 Xiaomi stores across the nation by 2020. In reality, building a secure retail distribution system across the country is considered… [Read full story]
VietNamNet Bridge - According to Ericsson--in Vietnam, 47 percent of smart phone users download data with the phones, while the figure for popular mobile phones is 11 percent. This has prompted manufacturers to market low cost smart phone models priced at less than 2 million dong. Michael MacDonald, Technology Director of Huawei in charge of South East Asia, said at the international Mobile Vietnam conference on October 19 that Vietnam has made a big leap over the last three years in developing 3G network. Vietnam has built up 48,000 3G stations, while the Philippines, with the same area and population,…... [read more]
Tablets, smart phones still sell well By Cong Sang - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC – The demand for tablet computers and smart phones in Vietnam is still growing at double-digit rate, sparking hope for the hi-tech product market despite the current trend of consumers tightening their purse strings. The purchasing for smart phones records growth rate of 10-15% at present. Several mobile retailers expected the growth of 20% in the next six months for products priced around VND3 million. However, the demand for high-grade smart phone tends to move flat, especially after the Lunar New Year holiday. Tran Quoc…... [read more]
VietNamNet Bridge - Low cost smart phone users have been warned that they are facing high risks. They may have data stolen, information exposed or lose money in accounts. A report showed that there are some 30 million smart phones in Vietnam out of the total 130 million mobile phone subscribers. Of these, 80-90 percent are low cost smart phones, that use Android 2.x operation system. Low cost smart phones are understood as the products valued at some VND2 million or lower. Making use of the high number of vulnerable low cost smart phone users and the security hole on…... [read more]
Nguyen The Kha, deputy director of F.Studio by FPT, said fierce competition among retailers drove F.Studio by FPT to develop a promotional programme for customers purchasing iPhone 5s on installment plans. Customers now pay VND5.6 million (US$257.6) in advance and pay the remainder at zero percent interest rate for six months. The gioi di dong, another giant retailer that owns 350 retail outlets, also uses the same strategy for its smart phones by cutting prices of Samsung Galaxy Note 4 by VND2.5 – 3.5 million (US$115 – 161) and Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime G530 by VND800,000 (US$36.8). Vo Le Tam Thanh, market…... [read more]
The Bkav Technology Group has spent VND500 billion (nearly US$22 million) since 2009 on researching and producing the indigenous smart phone called Bphone, its CEO Nguyen Tu Quang has revealed.Speaking to the media in Ha Noi on Wednesday shortly after the launch of Bphone 2, he said the company’s immediate objective was to gain the Vietnamese consumer’s trust, although the group was having to absorb the losses incurred by the smart phone project.Quang said that Bphone 2 was 100 per cent manufactured by Bkav, with just 0.9 per cent of the components are made in China.He said that when Bphone…... [read more]
