VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese Apple fans’ community now holds its breath waiting for the day iPhone 5s to be distributed officially in Vietnam, just some days before the Christmas.

Sources, which keep close relations with the big Vietnamese mobile network operators, have affirmed that the telcos would put iPhone 5s on shelves soon in some more days.

The information has immediately forced the current iPhone 5 prices down. The Apple’s super-products have been available in the Vietnamese market for some months already. However, they are not the officially distributed products. Private shop owners in Vietnam imported the iPhone 5s from different sources. Besides, iPhone 5s have also been brought to Vietnam by the people entering the country.

Some weeks ago, iPhone 5 16 GB was sold at 19-20 million dong. However, the technology websites on November 20 showed the iPhone 5 price at 16.5 million dong only.

Currently, Vietnamese people can buy iPhone 5 with the assistance of their overseas relatives and friends at 14 million dong only. As such, iPhone 5 dealers would pocket at least 2.5 million dong for every iPhone 5 they sell.

According to GenK, the price of iPhone 5 is very likely to be equal to the price of iPhone 4S when it was first marketed.

In early November 2011, Viettel, one of the biggest mobile network operators in Vietnam, sold iPhone 4S 16GB at 16.4 million dong.

VTC News has also cited its reliable sources as saying that the iPhone 5 16GB would be priced at roughly 16.8 million dong.

In the neighboring markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore, iPhone 5s are sold at 14.8 million dong and 15.8 million dong, respectively. It is highly possible that the price in Vietnam would be some 10 percent higher than that in Singapore.

Meanwhile, some people have predicted that the official distributed iPhone 5 would be priced at 17.5 million dong. However, analysts have warned that this could be a trick played by private shop owners, who try to persuade those, who bought iPhone 5s from the shops that they luckily bought iPhone 5s at best prices.

The hot news about the official distribution of iPhone 5 in Vietnam has also overshadowed the previous-generation iPhones.

On November 20, VinaPhone announced the sharp price reduction of iPhone 4S from 16.2 million dong to 13.3 million dong for 16GB version. The website of the mobile network operator got overloaded after the news about the price reduction was updated.

The owner of a private hi-tech production shop said iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 remain the best sellers. However, he said the sales of iPhone 4S are higher, because the products are now very cheap. Meanwhile, he believes that iPhone 5 would see the prices go down further in the upcoming weeks, since the supply sources from Singapore and Hong Kong have become stable.

Chodientu, rongbay and muare websites have also reported the sharp price decreases for used products, about 10 million dong for an iPhone 4S and 17.5 million dong for iPhone 5, representing the decrease of one million dong per product in comparison with the last week’s prices.

A special iPhone 5 product has been available in Vietnam – the one inlaid with diamonds. According to DVS Digital, which manipulates the original product, the product is priced at 68 million dong.

The company has also introduced the iPhone 5 product with the inlaid image of a dragon made of 24K gold.

Compiled by C. V