Three PGs introduce low-cost smartphone products that Lenovo has launched onto the local market - Photo: Ha Van
Trading low-cost smartphone products now is considered a lucrative business activity of the cell phone retail industry in the context that consumption in the whole industry is on a downtrend.
Dinh Anh Huan, sales director of Thegioididong.com, said given the current economic slump, local demand for cell phones has tumbled. However, demand for smartphone products, focusing on low-cost phones, has been on the rise, he noted.
Huan predicted the market will be flooded with smartphone items, concentrating on those selling from VND2.5 million to VND5 million a unit.
He noticed local consumers are even able to buy cell phones worth less than VND2 million a unit. Even though these gadgets are not smartphone types, they also allow users to experience basic smartphone functions, he said.
John Stefanac, chairman of Qualcomm for South East Asia & Pacific, forecast the third generation (3G) network in Vietnam will expand by 15% from now to 2016. He asserted this will bring about sharp growth in demand for smartphones, especially affordable items.
Last year, the local low-cost smartphone segment was dominated by foreign producers such as Samsung, Nokia, HTC and LG. But at the moment, the market has become much more bustling with the presence of a vast array of home-made and Chinese products.
At the middle of last month, local supplier Q-Mobile joined the smartphone segment with the brand Q-Smart’s launch, featuring Q-Smart S12, S18 and S22 targeting middle-income people. Integrated with wifi, 3G services and global positioning system and equipped with two simcards, the cell phones are priced at between VND1.9 million and VND3.8 million a unit.
Mobistar, another Vietnamese cell phone producer, also launched a new product named Mobistar Tough Kem 452 equipped with double microprocessor, 12.0 MP camera, 1GB RAM and two simcards at below VND5 million.
Chinese firm Lenovo last week collaborated with FPT Trading Limited Co. to distribute a series of smartphone products labeled Lenovo in the domestic market, including Lenovo A60, S880, P700i, S560 and K860. Among these, the A60 is on offer at VND2.3 million.
The Saigon Times Daily
