Phone sales hit 28.7 million units
A recent survey by global data firm IDC has revealed that a total of 28.7 million cell phones were sold in Vietnam last year, up 13% from the previous year.
Nearly 41% of the handsets were smartphones which achieved the highest growth rate – 57% year on year, news website Saigon Times Online reported on March 11, citing a survey.
Vo Le Tam Thanh, an analyst with IDC Vietnam, explained the soar in smartphone sales as a result of recent price cuts.
He said the whole market’s growth was mainly boosted by the segment of low-end smartphones, adding that six of 10 smartphones sold in Vietnam were priced less than US$150.
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The sales of smartphones are expected to surpass that of feature phones this year, according to the news report.
IDC’s survey also showed that Samsung was still the largest seller in Vietnam, even though its market share significantly shrank from 54% in 2012 to 26% last year.
Microsoft Mobile, formerly known as Nokia, continued to grow with its share increasing to 24% from 16% in 2013.
Danial Pang, senior research manager of IDC ASEAN, was quoted as saying that most of Microsoft Mobile’s products targeted the middle segment, while Apple and Samsung dominated the luxury segment.
According to IDC, even though the sales of phablets in Vietnam were still lower than those of other products, local interest in phones with big screens clearly increased.
The uptrend was attributed to the fact that the devices became cheaper, while allowing users to browse the Internet and play games better.