Hoang Tong Linh in Dong Da District in Hanoi said he has been using the same iPad for four years, though he changed his smartphones twice during the same time.

“I don’t have the intention to buy a new tablet, though my iPad has some scratches on its cover. I’d rather buy a new smartphone than a new tablet,” he explained.

Linh bought two iPads in late 2011, one for his parents and the other for his two children. “Some scratches have appeared on the iPad as my children dropped it so regularly. But I still cannot find any reason to buy a new one,” he said.

Thai Van Hung in District 3, HCM City, said he has been ‘faithful’ to his iPad 3 for the last few years. Though he likes iPad Air and iPad Air 2 because they are thinner and lighter than his iPad 3, he does not intend to buy a new one.

“The latest-generation products are really good, but I just need my iPad 3 to satisfy my needs – surfing on internet, accessing Facebook and receiving/sending emails,” he explained.

“Meanwhile, my iPad 3 still looks good as if it is brand new,” he said, joking that the product’s durability is the reason new products don’t sell as well as expected. 

Lac Huy from CellPhoneS, a large smartphone distribution chain, noted that the sales of iPad and tablets in general have been decreasing in the last two years.

This is not because Apple’s products are no longer a favorite. In fact, Apple’s machines are very durable while software has been upgraded regularly.

“A lot of customers come back to our shop to upgrade the operating system for their iPads which were bought two or three years ago instead of buying a new product,” Huy commented.

The owner of another distribution chain in Hanoi also said the demand for iPads has decreased sharply. However, he denied that Vietnamese tend to fasten their belt on high-technology luxury products.

“Hanoians do not regret money on high-technology products, especially Apple’s. This explains why they change their smartphones so regularly,” he said. 

The main reason behind this, according to Le Duc, the owner of Shopdunk on Thai Ha Street in Hanoi, is that with the strong development of smartphone and large-size phablets, iPad is not the priority product for them. 

Tablets were once advertised by manufacturers as the product which can replace traditional laptops but many users don’t use their laptops as much as before.

VNE