Vsmart Joy 1

Chinese smartphone manufacturers only needed several years to become well known to Vietnamese phone users. Three out of five bestselling models in Vietnam are made in China.

Low costs, good cameras, and diverse features all have helped Chinese brands attract young customers. They have been conquering the hearts of low-income earners, especially students, though many Vietnamese are still boycotting Chinese products.

Hoang Nam, a second year university student, wrote recently on a technology forum that he has ‘high sympathy’ towards Xiaomi.

“For students, no other smartphone model can be cheaper and provide a good experience for playing games like Xiaomi,” he said.

Two years ago, Nam, who was then a high school student, bought a Redmi Note 4X with money he earned. The phone still works well. Nam plans to continue to be loyal to the Chinese manufacturer.

Nam said he heard about security problems with Chinese products, but he doesn’t care because he is just a student and has no information to steal.

Other members of the technology forum disagree.

“The thought that I am not a VIP and I have nothing secret shows irresponsibility to society,” Lam Huy, an IT engineer, said.

“Manufacturers have to keep users’ information confidential, which is a critical requirement. If someone says he knows Chinese problems but still buys the products, this means he has encouraged Chinese manufacturers to continue to steal information,” he said.

The engineer warned that Chinese phone users lose information to Chinese manufacturers, but their friends and relatives are also at risk of losing information.

Other members also raised their voice against Nam’s viewpoint. “Nam is too naïve when thinking he has no information to lose. In fact, Nam will accidentally bring troubles to his friends in contact list,” an office worker wrote.

The office worker, who works for a media company, said Vietnamese should use Vietnamese-made products, especially when there are now many choices.

“Previously, we had no choice for Vietnamese-made products, but now we have Vsmart and BPhone which have been praised by experts,” he commented.

Many years ago, Samsung was not a good product and could not be compared to Nokia and Motorola. However, South Koreans still supported the Korean brand and finally, Samsung became strong, he said. He believes the same scenario would happen in Vietnam.

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