VietNamNet Bridge – Although the Lunar New Year 2013 is drawing near, the cell phone buying energy remains mild, contrary to expectation of retailers.

A staff member of Thegioididong.com prepares for product delivery.

Dinh Anh Huan, sales director of the retail chain Thegioididong.com, said mobile phone sales had picked up slightly, estimated at 20%, versus a growth of 40% last year.

At this time in previous years, the buying energy was very strong, but it seems to cool down this year. This suggests consumers are tightening their purse strings under the impact of economic downturn, said Huan.

The latest statistics of Thegioididong.com show that its cell phone sales fell slightly in December last year and the sales volumes and revenues of the other months were almost the same, without any sudden growth. On average, the retail chain sold around 300,000 cell phones per month.

Other mobile phone retailers like Mai Nguyen, FPT Shop, Vien Thong A and Viettel Smart also record modest growth in purchasing power.

Smartphones with reasonable prices and high specifications running on Android operating system are the top option of consumers as they are suitable for first-time users. Meanwhile, smartphones of higher grade like iPhone 5, Galaxy SIII, Galaxy Note 2 and HTC One are less attractive because of their high prices.

Hung Cong Hien, director of the electronics retail center under FPT Trading Company, said average-priced smartphones sold the best. On the contrary, the high-end smartphone segment is quite sluggish even when the Lunar New Year is near.

Huan of Thegioididong.com described 2012 as a very tough year for the mobile phone market.

The total demand declined 10% against 2011, while in previous years, it often grew 15-20% year-on-year.

Moreover, the market welcomed many new players, while the existing traders continued to expand their networks, leading to a more intense competition, said Huan.

Specifically, the mobile phone market last year witnessed the participation of VNPT and Viettel in the retail segment.

VNPT established the retail chain 5G, while Viettel opened multiple Viettel Smart stores in Hanoi, Danang and HCMC.

Source: SGT