VietNamNet Bridge – The smartphone market in Viet Nam is expected to take off in the next few months thanks to an increasing number of users and a drop in prices, according to experts.

Last month, a market-research company predicted that the number of Vietnamese using smartphones would increase from 12 per cent to 16 per cent within the next six months.

Nguyen Ngoc Bao, director of the VTC Mobile Company, told Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) newspaper that the smartphone market in the country would reach a peak by the end of the year and the beginning of 2013 when prices are expected to fall to US$75 for some phones.

Many companies have introduced their cheapest smartphone models.

Sony is selling a smartphone for about VND4 million ($190), and Samsung, HTC and Nokia are offering smartphones for about VND3 million ($140).

Huawei, a mobilephone company from China, has also announced that it planned to sell in Viet Nam several smartphone models with a large screen and good battery life. The price is expected to be under $100 each.

The phones are targeted at budget consumers who do not want to use counterfeit brands of mobilephones, according to a representative from Huawei.

Vietnamese mobile companies have also developed new strategies for the market.

At the end of September, Q-Smart introduced three smartphones ranging in price from VND2 million ($95) to VND4 million ($190).

In addition, the giant telecommunications company Viettel began selling its smartphones at the surprising price of VND1.5 million ($71).

Experts said that Vietnamese phone companies should create products competitive in quality with foreign-made phones.

Manufacturers should not focus on price only because consumers cared about quality as well, they added.
A good price for an inexpensive smartphone would be $80 to $100 each, according to experts.

If a company compete on price only, their business will not succeed. The success of a brand depends on many factors, not just price, experts have warned.

VietNamNet/VNS