VietNamNet Bridge - In 2016, the global smartphone market witnessed the strong rise of brands from China.

While sales of Samsung and Apple decreasing by 0.6 percent and 16.3 percent, respectively, in the first quarter of 2016 in comparison with the same period last year, Chinese brands like Huawei, Oppo and Vivo reported considerably high growth rates of 58.4 percent, 153.2 percent and 123.8 percent, respectively.

In Vietnam, Oppo’s market share has increased rapidly from 2.7 percent in 2014 to 15.1 percent in 2015 and 21.5 percent in the first five months of 2016.

In July alone, a series of Chinese smartphone brands presented themselves before the mass media. Gionee and Oukitel, through the official distributor PHTD, met the local press and sales agents. 

Meanwhile, Elephone and Infinex made their debut and introduced products they planned to sell in Vietnam. Huawei and Vivo, the two Chinese leading brands, also introduced their mid-end products priced at VND5.5-11 million.

As such, the Vietnamese market has been flooded with products bearing new Chinese products.

Vietnamese like products with strong configuration, good design and prices below VND5 million

Tran Quan, a sales agent, commented that Chinese manufacturers decided to launch products in July because the month starts their business in the second half of the year. 

This is also because of news that Samsung and Apple would launch new super-products in August and September. 

“Chinese brands need to come sooner if they want to exist in the Vietnamese market,” he said.

Quan noted that in general, Chinese brands usually ‘attack in waves’. They distribute some models through online channels such as Lazada, or provide directly to sales agents and shops in an ‘exploration attack’. 

If they find that sales are good, they set up representative offices or choose official distributors, while carrying out activities to improve customers’ brand awareness. If the sales go slowly, they leave quietly and prepare for the next opportunity.

Alcatel, a brand owned by TCL Group, for example, after undergoing restructuring in late 2015, has changed the brand into Flash. It focuses on distributing products through Lazada with Flash 2 model, with 8 cores and RAM 2GB, priced at VND2 million. 

Realizing that sales are relatively good, in late June, it launched Flash Plus 2, priced at VND3.2 million, with metal-frame design and stronger configuration.

Infinix has also been following the same strategy. It quietly entered Vietnam in late 2015, introducing HotNote model on Lazada network, priced at VND2.7 million, Zero 3, priced at VND4.7 million in the first quarter of 2016, and Hot 3 in July, priced at VND2.7 million.

In general, Vietnamese like products with strong configuration, good design and prices below VND5 million, according to distributors. 


DNSG