VietNamNet Bridge – Backup battery packs have become cheaper than ever in Vietnam. No one could imagine before that a high technology product could be so cheap.

Low price for high-capacity products

Backup batteries have become more and more favored by Vietnamese, because they are portable and can provide power to smart phones, tablets, laptops and netbooks at any times the users want. Especially, the products have become more popular because they have got very cheap, just several hundreds of thousands of dong for the batteries with the capacity of 4,000 mAh.

Just one year ago, backup battery packs were unfamiliar to Vietnamese users, while there were the products of 6-7 brands available on the market. Meanwhile, there are now many choices for users with the products of 15 well known brands, from Mili Power, Yoobao, Pisen, Elecom to Cager, Huyndai, Pineng, Hame, and the products with no clear origins as well, called by traders as “no name products.”

There are also products, sourced from China, with the capacity of 1,200-18,000 mAh. They have been given simple names such as KB, GG, W66 by Vietnamese dealers.

However, analysts have noted that the products with surprisingly low prices have repeatedly appeared on the market since late 2012, which have been advertised as having big capacity and very low prices.

The backup battery called “TBS” with the capacity of 2,600 mAh is priced at VND220,000 only, while Q2 4,200 mAh priced at VND320,000. Especially, Cager with the advertised capacity of 5000 mAh has been selling at VND340,000 only.

More and more “no name products” have been available in the market segment of the products with the capacity of 1,000 mAh and higher. The capacity shown on the pack of the products is up to 10,000 mAh, while they are selling at 1 million dong only and buyers can enjoy the 12 month warranty service.

Especially, the 10,000 mAh Cager has the surprisingly low price of VND450,000. The price is so low that customers would not have to think much before spending their money.

Low cost backup battery packs have become in such a high demand that many hi-tech product distributors now focus on pushing up the sale of the products. At The gioi di dong in Hanoi, one of the two biggest mobile phone distribution chains in Vietnam, for example, the buyers of smart phones would be advised to buy backup batteries.

A customer, who came and bought ah HTC One V, was advised a backup battery named KFL. The product was introduced as having the capacity of 4,000 mAh and low sale price of VND300,000.

A fierce battlefield anticipated

The availability of low cost backup battery packs has eased the worries of smart phone and tablet users. They now feel secure that their communication connection would not be interrupted, while they will not have to spend too much money on this.

However, experts have warned against the use of low cost products which may have low quality and they would harm users’ tablets or smart phones.

The big price gaps between branded goods and low cost products remain unexplainable. A product of Mili Power with the capacity of 4,000 mAh, for example, has the sale price of VND2 million, while a 8,000 mAh at VND4 million. Meanwhile, no name products with the same capacities have the sale prices lower by tens of times.

Smart phones and tablets have become more and more popular in Vietnam. A report by IDC showed that the volume of smart phones sold in the third quarter of 2012 increased by 83 percent in comparison with the same period of 2011.

Buu Dien