VietNamNet Bridge – The technology product market still witnessed growth in 2010, but distributors say the growth rate is expected to be lower than in 2009, and they have been warned about the difficulties ahead.

Vo Thi Hoang Quan, General Director of FPT Distribution Company, said that in 2009, the company gained growth rates of 40 percent in comparison with 2008. Meanwhile, the growth rate in 2010 is expected to reach only 20 percent.

Quan said that the market in 2010 had many difficulties and many unexpected changes.

Technology products are mainly imports, therefore, the sale prices of the products were influenced by the dong/dollar exchange rate fluctuations in February, August and October. The fluctuations have presented difficulties for distributors. Even when they try to launch promotion campaigns and offer big discounts, they still encourage consumers in the market. The purchasing power remains weak even in shopping seasons such as the sale promotion month in November or year-end sale season.

Unpredictable fluctuations

The market in 2010 has been described by Quan as follows: the first quarter witnessed sharp growth rates, the second quarter saw sharp unexpected decreases, and while there was little change in the third quarter, the market did not see much improvement in the fourth quarter. In general, Quan said, the market has been acting strangely. The demand remains low despite the efforts to stimulate the demand.

“The economic downturn has made consumers hesitant  to purchase technology products. 2010 is the year when the market displayed the clearest evidence of the impacts of the economic crisis.

Nguyen Minh Son, a senior executive of Samsung Vina, also said that the sale of high-tech products has been seriously influenced by the difficulties in the national economy. Consumers have to prioritize spending money on the most basic needs instead of spending money on high-technology products. Besides, state agencies, the main clients of high-technology product distributors, have tightened their grip on spending, thus resulting in decreases in product sales.

Son also said that the growth rates in the sales of some products of the company have decreased. However, the decreases have been offset by higher growth rates in some other segments, such as LCD screens, hard drives or optical drives.

For example according to GfK, the market share of LCD screens held by Samsung VIna in the third quarter was 39 percent, while the figure was 35 percent in the second quarter. Meanwhile, though they are still leading in market shares, hard drives and optical drives have not seen considerable growth.

How will sales in 2011 perform?

According to Son, it is very difficult to predict the market performance in 2011. The market heavily depends on the dong/dollar exchange rate and the dollar value has been on the rise.

In general, distributors believe that desktops and computer accessories will be heavily influenced by market factors, while laptops will still keep the high growth rate of 25-30 percent per annum.

“The trend of using laptops instead of desktops became clearer in 2010. Meanwhile, tablet PCs are also very attractive to customers,” Son said.

Huynh Nhan Quy, Market Survey Director of Vien Thong A, also believes that the laptop market segment will see high growth rates, as the products have become diversified and fit a wide range of customers.

Source: Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon