Ho Chi Minh City began to open its doors with certain conditions from October 1. The purchasing power has increased sharply, but due to many factors, retailers cannot meet demand. This is also the common situation across the country.

Phung Ngoc Tuyen, a manager of Mobile World, told ICTnews that the purchasing power after a long period of social distancing has boomed, with the daily revenue as high as that of the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday season. However, supply of smartphones has begun to run out of stock, while sources of laptops and tablets did not meet demand even before the reopening.

FPT Shop said that orders have increased sharply since Ho Chi Minh City and many other localities reopened since early October. CellphoneS chain said that the purchasing power in the first 3 days after reopening doubled compared to the time before the 4th outbreak.

In the early stages of the 4th wave of epidemic, at a meeting with investors, managers of Mobile World predicted a shortage of goods and said that this firm would hoard goods. However, at present the reserve stock is not enough, Tuyen said.

Many models of laptops and tablets were out of stock a long time ago while there has been a shortage of smartphones for a few weeks, a representative of Mobile World said.

FPT Shop is working with its partners to ensure supply, and the goods are forecasted to be stable in the next few weeks.

A CellphoneS representative said that the lack of goods was caused by two reasons: disruption in the global supply chain due to pandemic and a power shortage in China that prevents factories from operating at maximum capacity.

Mobile World’s representative agreed with the statement, adding that flights from China to Vietnam are also limited, so the source of goods is insufficient. According to Tuyen, some partners in China only operate a few days a week because of China’s electricity saving policy.

According to Tuyen, the supply for Chinese smartphone manufacturers is the scarcest. For Apple and Samsung, although the supply chain is better, the supply cannot meet the purchasing power.

"Mobile World sells about 15,000 Samsung devices every day, but Samsung can only supply 30,000-40,000 units per week," said Tuyen.

In addition, some firms previously suspended imports to wait for the results of the anti-epidemic activities in Vietnam.

According to CellphoneS, all models of iPhone are in short supply. Specifically, orders for iPhone 11 in Q3/2021 were delayed until next year. iPhone 12 orders have not yet been placed. Supply of iPhone 13 will meet only 50% of the orders.

Nguyen Ngoc Dat, manager of Di Dong Viet (Viet Mobile) chain, said that smartphones priced VND6 million or less are now almost out of stock. Tablets have been out of stock for some time. Particularly, laptops priced at VND15 million or less are no longer available.

Most recently, this chain imported a shipment of laptops priced at VND 5.4 million to meet the needs of online learning but it quickly sold out.

All retailers said that the demand for devices for remote learning and working keeps rising and will not cool down in the coming time.

Ho Chi Minh City is planning for students to study online until the end of this year. Retailers forecast that the demand for electronic devices for online learning will continue to keep increasing until the end of 2021.

Hai Dang

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