VietNamNet Bridge – “You will see Chinese brand smartphones flood the Vietnamese market in just a few more years,” a Vietnam branch director of a Chinese phone manufacturing company said.

The senior executive said he is sure about this because a series of models of the company for which he works, and other Chinese products, from low-cost to high-end, have been easily penetrating the Vietnamese market.

He went on to say that the Chinese products that flood Vietnam this time will not be unknown or counterfeit goods, but products bearing strong Chinese brands.

Will ads, marketing campaigns help Chinese win in Vietnam?

Chinese technology products have never been favorites of Vietnamese in the past. The general impression of Chinese products is that they are mostly counterfeit and low-quality.

By mid-2013, Lenovo was the only Chinese smartphone brand in the Vietnamese market. The products of the manufacturer penetrated Vietnam quietly, with no noisy ad campaigns. However, it still managed to attract some Vietnamese clients, most of whom used Lenovo laptops.

However, the “strong Chinese wind” has become stronger since October 2013, when a new Chinese brand, Oppo, joined the Vietnamese market through the military telecom group Viettel, which acts as the distributor.

The Chinese manufacturer spent money like water on advertising and marketing campaigns. The products’ images appeared in mass media, sale agents, on banderoles and in the leaflets distributed on the streets.

One source said that sales in the first month were VND30 billion, a sum that even the distributor had not dreamt of.

Huawei, the third biggest mobile phone manufacturer in the world in 2013, also launched its products into the Vietnamese products, through FPT’s distribution network. Huawei’s products have also hit the shelves at The Gioi Di Dong, the largest mobile phone distribution network in Vietnam.

In additional to Oppo and Huawei’s offerings, which are listed as high-end products, Chinese popular products of Haier and Gionee have been sold in Vietnam through Petrosetco’s network.

Analysts have predicted that the other brands, like ZTE and Xiaomi, will enter Vietnam soon.

While Haier decided that it would target the low-cost product market segment, other manufacturers target medium and high-class products, priced at between VND5 million and VND10 million.

The analysts commented that with the pricing policies, Chinese manufacturers are trying to affirm the high quality of their products and change the Vietnamese mindset that Chinese products mean low-quality.

However, the Chinese manufacturers lately have also launched low-cost and medium-cost products in an effort to approach more Vietnamese customers and attain bigger market share.

In what way will Chinese manufacturers reach out to Vietnam?

Many China-made counterfeit products, or products with unknown brands, have been brought to Vietnam across the border and sold at very low prices. However, they cannot exist in Vietnam due to the low quality.

However, this will not happen with Chinese strong brands. Oppo, though having been present in Vietnam only for half a year, has already become well known.

Analysts commented that the strong brands follow a quite different way to approach Vietnam. They join hands with the Vietnamese big retail chains like Viettel, The Gioi Di Dong, FPT and Vien Thong A to distribute their products through the networks.

TBKTVN