The smartphone market in Viet Nam would develop strongly in the next two or three years, said general director of Huawei Zhao Wei Jun.

He said Viet Nam had seen a low growth rate of smartphones in comparison with other countries in Southeast Asia.

He said telecommunications needed to have enough roads for people to travel. "If we have infrastructure, we should have applications and end-to-end equipment such as smartphones and tablet PC Ipad on the system."

The company's study showed that 85 per cent of the Viet Nam market comprised popular mobile phones costing around US$50 which were used for calls and messages. Smartphones with big screens, using 3G technology, accounted for only 5-7 per cent and demand for the phones had been huge.

"We expect that our revenue from smartphones in Viet Nam will reach $1 billion in the next two years, double that of last year," he said.

Statistics from the Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) show that telecom provider Mobifone has more than 6 million 3G subscribers, while Vinaphone has more than 2 million. 3G subscribers have accounted for 13 per cent of the two enterprises' revenue.

"Our figures show that 80 per cent of customers use 3G services at their houses, meaning that mobile subscribers have preferred using broadband services for now," said director of information and public relations for VNPT, Bui Quoc Viet.

Yang Shu, chairman of Huawei in the Asia-Pacific region, said smartphones had not been popular due to high prices and a lack of 3G applications.

Huawei planned to expand its smartphone sales with two smartphones in Viet Nam by the beginning of next year, the Huawei Honor and the Huawei Vision.

He said they would focus on smartphones of high quality or reasonable price.

The company has been building a software development centre with Vietnamese partners to set up a 3G application system and expected to be one of the top three smartphone sellers in the country in the next three to five years.

Huawei has co-operated with telecom providers in Viet Nam including Viettel, Mobiphone, Vinaphone, Vietnamobile, Gtel and FPT Telecom since 2004.

It has provided more than 70 per cent of broadband equipment in Viet Nam.

VNS