Phones made by local manufacturer Vsmart have surpassed those of US giant Apple, in terms of retail revenue in the Vietnamese market in January.

Analysts believe that an agreement between Viettel, a mobile network operator, and Vsmart, a mobile phone manufacturer, could drive Chinese smartphones into a corner.

For the first time since launching in the market, Vsmart has surpassed Apple in retail revenue.

iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max have seen prices decrease by VND500,000 and VND1 million, respectively. The sharpest price reduction, VND1.5 million, has been reported for iPhone 11 Pro.

From the original Android, VinSmart has created a new operating system – VOS - specifically tailored for the Vietnamese market.

With reasonable selling prices and Vietnamese brand, Vsmart’s products are capable of dislodging Chinese brands from the Vietnamese market.

The Apple Watch Series 1 are being sold without charging accessories and watchbands.

As the habit of Vietnamese smartphone users has changed, mobile network operators in Vietnam can now cooperate with Vsmart to provide smartphones at low prices with associated service packages.

Mobile phone sales in the Vietnamese market decreased in the last three months, which has been anticipated.

While Mobiistar products have disappeared from large distribution chains, Vsmart Live have been selling like hot cakes, though both are Vietnamese brands.

The selling price of officially distributed iPhone 11 6GB quoted by authorized resellers is just VND600,000 higher than unofficially distributed products.

A representative of Vsmart said the manufacturer will design smartphones and increase the locally made content in products to 60 percent by 2020.

Under the new policy, users have to show the invoice of genuine products for warranty service. This has directly affected users of MacBook and iPads bought from unauthorized dealers.

Apple and Samsung are now controlling the high-end smartphone market segments. Other brands have disappeared.

Home markets are the biggest markets for Chinese, South Korea, Japanese and Amercian mobile phone manufacturers, but this has not occurred in Vietnam.

Analysts of VnDirect Securities believe that the ban would have big impact on the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer, but the Vietnamese smartphone market will not be affected much.

The news that Google has canceled cooperation with Huawei has raised concern that Huawei phones cannot be updated with Android software.

Following official price adjustments of a series of next-generation models, including XS, XS Max and XR, the prices of previous-generation models available at private shops have also dropped sharply.

General school regulations prohibit students from using mobile phones, but schools admit they cannot control the situation.

VietNamNet Bridge - Retailers have slashed the prices of many smartphone models, but sales are still going slowly in the peak sales season of the year.