VietNamNet Bridge – Huawei’s selling approach in Vietnam is an indicator of how Chinese smartphone manufacturers will market their products.

 

 

It plans to market products this year selling from several million dong to dozens of millions of dong to target different groups of customers.

Shawn Shu, a Huawei senior executive, said it would have been easier for Huawei to join the Vietnamese market some years ago. Meanwhile, the market has become too competitive with the presence of “big guys”.

The low-cost market segment, priced at below VND4 million, was once dominated by Vietnamese and Chinese brands. However, Microsoft has jumped on the bandwagon.

In the under-VND8 million market, Huawei will have to compete with many formidable rivals, including Asus.

Jeff Lo, CEO of Asus, has recently said that Asus holds the third largest market share (10.4 percent) in Vietnam with the ZenFone series, though it has joined the market for one year only.

Samsung and Apple are the two biggest rivals in the high-end market segment with products priced at more than VND10 million.

Are there opportunities for Chinese brands?

Oppo made its presence in the Vietnamese market by launching Oppo Find 5. Within a short time, it marketed two more products with high-profile marketing campaigns.

Shawn from Huawei also said the manufacturer would spend more on branding in Vietnam to attract more customers as the country is one of its key markets in the world.

A local newspaper cited statistics reported by online sale systems as saying that Chinese smartphones now account for 15-20 percent of total products sold.

However, an analyst noted that Oppo, Huawei and other Chinese brands have a common “mortal disadvantage” in Vietnam: they are both from China. In Vietnamese thought, “made-in-China” means “low-quality products”.

“Even if they (Chinese manufacturers) spend big money on marketing and ad campaigns, they would not be able to ‘cut corners’ in developing their brands, especially when Samsung, Nokia and Microsoft have also attacked the low-cost market segment,” he said.

However, Shawn is optimistic about Huawei’s business performance in Vietnam, saying that the two characteristics of the Vietnamese market – the smartphone boom and the young population who adapt easily to new things – would support its business here.

These two factors will prompt Vietnam to develop 4G LTE technology to ensure connections. And the 4G LTE movement would give Huawei opportunities.

DNSG