VietNamNet Bridge - Two years ago, Apple’s authorized resellers included iCenter, Future World, KTC and Phong Vu shops. Now, most of the agents belong to The Gioi Di Dong and FPT Shops.

The network of Apple’s older authorized resellers have remained unchanged, but The Gioi Di Dong and FPT Shop chains have expanded greatly.

A search of AAR (Apple authorized resellers) and APR (Apple premium reseller) shops in HCMC shows that Apple system gives 99 results. Of these, 51 belong to The Gioi Di Dong and 24 to FPT Shop. 

Two years ago, Apple’s authorized resellers included iCenter, Future World, KTC and Phong Vu shops. Now, most of the agents belong to The Gioi Di Dong and FPT Shops.

The two largest retail smartphone distribution chains in Vietnam hold 75 percent of Apple authorized resellers.

The current situation is different from two years ago, when Apple mostly distributed iPhone through FPT Trading and mobile phone operators, and distributed Macbook and iPad through authorized agents such as Future World and iCenter. In general, retailers distributed the products they got from FPT Trading and rarely sold Macbook and iPads.

At that time and now, Future World and iCenter can sell only computers and tablets, but they cannot sell iPhone officially, unless they re-distribute products from mobile network operators or FPT Trading. 

Since Apple changed its distribution policy in March 2015, The Gioi Di Dong and FPT Shop, the two retail chains, can import iPhones directly from Apple, not through FPT Trading.

At first, the two retailers could only import iPhones. Later, they could import Macbook and iPad from Apple as well. With the new rights, the two retail chains have significant strength compared with other Apple partners.

Apple applies two authorized reseller models in Vietnam – AAR and APR. At first, the shops only sold Apple’s products and did not sell products of other manufacturers. This policy is still used at iCenter, Future World and other agents. However, The Gioi Di Dong, FPT Shop and some other chains which have AAR such as Mai Nguyen and Vien Thong A now sell a wide range of products with different brands.

Mai Trieu Nguyen, the owner of Mai Nguyen chain, said the Apple-only shops won’t be competitive with the shops with diverse products. At Mai Nguyen, Apple products just account for a part of its showrooms.

Also according to Nguyen, with the current policy, Apple product distribution is carried out through different channels. Different Apple products are distributed by different distributors. This means that one shop cannot have all of Apple products to sell.

Nguyen Viet Anh, deputy CEO of FPT Shop, said that the old authorized resellers, or ‘traditional AAR’, are meeting difficulties. Only chains which can operate in accordance with the standards and obtain sufficient revenue can exist and develop in Vietnam.

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