According to research results of IDC, smartphone sales in Vietnam reached 15.9 million units with a growth of 11.9% in 2021. This double-digit growth rate mainly comes from 4G-enabled phones. Sales of feature phones have significantly fallen due to regulations restricting the import of phones that only support 2G/3G networks that took effect from July 1, 2021.

Social distancing since the outbreak of the pandemic until September 2021 made a great impact on the smartphone market as stores and shopping centers are temporarily closed.

The smartphone market gradually recovered in the last quarter of 2021. However, the shortage of smartphone components started to affect the market.

IDC also made forecasts about the key factors contributing to shaping the Vietnamese smartphone market in 2022.

Firstly, the shift from buying 2G/3G phones to models supporting 4G/5G networks will lead to the fact that Vietnam will have the highest smartphone market growth among ASEAN countries in 2022, when the demand for smartphones increases rapidly.

Secondly, the market is gradually changing as retailers choose to open exclusive stores for some brands. For example, Mobile World opened the TopZone chain that specializes in selling Apple products, and a number of other chains also opened stores in cooperation with Apple. Samsung recently partnered with a number of retailers to open many stores that only sell Samsung products.

According to IDC, the mobile retail segment in Vietnam is different from the rest of ASEAN countries because the market is dominated by a number of large systems such as Mobile World and FPT Shop. This makes it difficult for smaller stores to thrive.

Thao Tran

VND10mil smartphone segment bustling in Vietnam

The segment for smartphones priced at about VND10 million ($480) in Vietnam is hotter than ever with many new models launched this month.