VietNamNet Bridge - The number of shops trading Apple imports through official and unofficial channels has mushroomed in Vietnam. However, no Apple store has opened in Vietnam.


If Apple doesn’t open an Apple store in Vietnam, this shows a lack of respect for Vietnamese customers who buy many Apple products,” said Thanh Thanh, a member of a high-tech fan forum.

An analyst commented that in other countries, Apple fans queue up overnight in front of Apple stores to buy new iPhones, but Apple fans in Vietnam come to small shops to order the products carried to Vietnam across border gates. Or they queue up outside sales agents and mobile network operators’ distribution points to buy official imports.

In China, where Apple just received permission to sell genuine products last year, five Apple Stores opened. The stores in Hangzhou and Zhengzhou, two of them, just opened in January 2015, several months after the Chinese government turned the green light on.

An analyst said that it was understandable why an Apple store has not been available in Vietnam. He said that Apple has been following necessary procedures to set up Apple Vietnam, a legal business entity.

“I am not sure if Apple will open an Apple store in Vietnam. An Apple store just bears the symbolic significance for branding,” said Ngo Quoc Bao, a senior executive of the retail chain FPT Shop and F.Studio by FPT.

However, he said this would be good news for Apple fans if Apple opens a store in Vietnam, because this would give more opportunities to Vietnamese consumers to experience Apple products.

The representative of another retail chain also thinks that Apple stores in Vietnam would not affect existing sales agents and distributors.

He thinks Apple would set up no more than two Apple stores in Vietnam, one in Hanoi and one in HCM City. If the stores sell products, their selling prices would be nearly the same with prices applied by sales agents to avoid possible price conflicts.

The stores would display products and offer advice from consultants.

Apple is reportedly following administrative procedures to set up a business in Vietnam. Opinions from well-informed circles say Apple has been working in Vietnam for about one year and has nearly 100 workers.

Some local newspapers also quoted sources as saying that Apple has chosen its representative in Vietnam and has begun contacting Vietnamese agents at the beginning of 2015.

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