VietNamNet Bridge – The Vietnamese preference for foreign-made products explain why local companies’ high-tech solutions are not welcomed in the country, Vietnamese technology corporations say.

“Our products always receive compliments from foreign clients, from Australia to North America. However, they are not welcomed in the home market,” said Nguyen Trung Kien, director of the technology product development management board, which belongs to VNPT Technology at a workshop held on December 4 in HCM City.

VNPT Technology is known for its hardware products bearing Vietnamese brands, such as SmartBox, Modem ADSL and Vivas Lotus, a smartphone model.

Kien said in Buu Dien newspaper that Vietnamese technology groups should be praised for their great achievements gained under poor conditions:  underdeveloped supporting industries, lack of policies on investment encouragement, and lack of capital. Meanwhile, they have to compete fiercely with powerful foreign invested enterprises.

He believes that Vietnamese-made technology products are not highly appreciated in Vietnam, though they have high quality, which is recognized by foreign customers.

Vietnamese do not have confidence in Vietnamese products.

Kien said that Vivas Lotus introduced VNPT Technology in North America and Australia. It has been praised for its high quality, better than products from China.

However, in Vietnam, Vivas Lotus, like many other smartphone models, are not popular with Vietnamese users.

An analyst confirmed that Vietnamese-made smartphone models have never been the choice of the majority of Vietnamese. They, together with Chinese products, are listed as low-cost products, and can only be distributed in rural areas.

The analyst commented that Vietnamese consumers have every reason to turn their backs on Vietnamese technology products.

“In Vietnamese thoughts, foreign-made products are always better than Vietnamese ones,” he said.

This is also why Vietnamese doubt the statement made recently by BKAV, a large Vietnamese technology group, that BKAV is leading the world in smarthome solutions.

Vu Thanh Thang, vice president of BKAV, said in Dien Dan Dau Tu that BKAV’s smarthome solutions can understand users well, while the others cannot.

However, some Vietnamese have commented that BKAV is “paranoid” when thinking it is Number 1 in the world.

“I really wish strong development for the Vietnam’s science and technology. I really want to buy Vietnamese-made hi-tech products. But I think it is not the right time to do this,” wrote a reader with the name makeQ, who said he worked as an accountant for a media company.

Thanh Lich