Last week, Oppo launched two Reno7 series models, including Reno7 5G and Reno7 Z 5G. Mr. Do Quang Kha, Director of Oppo Vietnam, said that these are two strategic products of this brand this year. Up to 12,000 orders were made immediately, a high number in the segment for smartphones priced around VND10 million.

One day later, Samsung launched the Galaxy A series in the global market, including A33 5G, A53 5G and A73 5G. Of which, Samsung opened for sale in Vietnam the Galaxy A53 5G model for VND 9.99 million, VND500,000 less than Oppo Reno7 Z 5G.

Earlier this month, Realme launched the Realme 9 Pro + model, at the same price of Samsung A53 5G.

Also in March, Poco introduced the X4 Pro 5G in Vietnam very short after it was introduced at the Mobile World Congress 2022, with a price of VND7.49 million.

In March, four brands launched strategic smartphone models targeting the segment from nearly VND8 million to VND11 million. This segment is considered a new "fire pan" of smartphone manufacturers in Vietnam.

Mr. Nguyen Lac Huy, representative of CellphoneS, said the scale of Vietnam's mobile market in 2021 reached about VND110 trillion, including VND11 trillion from the segment of VND8 -VND11 million mobile phones. This segment is said to yield better profit than the segment for smartphones of lower prices. Thus, competition in this segment is fierce.

“This segment is also an important stepping stone for brands to convince consumers to use their high-end products,” Huy said. This is especially important for brands like Realme, Poco and even Oppo, when their high-end smartphone segment is still not comparable to Apple or Samsung.

Even Samsung has noticed this trend and has joined the competition with the Galaxy A series.

Counterpoint's statistics show that the mid-range Galaxy A series is contributing greatly to Samsung's sales. In 2021, this line accounted for nearly two-thirds of this company's total smartphone sales globally.

According to GfK’s data in Vietnam, the smartphone segment with prices from VND8 to VND11 million is growing in 2022. Last year the number of smartphones in this segment made up 6% of the market, and increased to 8% in early this year.

Previously, phone companies such as Oppo, Xiaomi, Vivo, etc. expanded their market share by smartphones in the segment of VND2-3 million, then expanded to VND3-5 million, VND5-8 million and now they are increasing their presence in the segment of VND8-11 million.

The launch of products at the range of about VND 10 million helps to improve the brand image of some unknown brands. In addition, young users - who are the main customers of Chinese smartphone manufacturers - have better incomes, and can buy products at higher prices.

Mr. Phung Ngoc Tuyen, director of the mobile telecommunications division of The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World), said the low-end segment does not bring big enough profits for companies, and even if these products sell more, they will incur more losses. This is also why companies are directing customers to the higher price segment.

Hai Dang

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