VietNamNet Bridge - Xiaomi, the Chinese technology startup, and Digiworld, its partner in Vietnam, have declined to reveal how long they will cooperate, but sources said the contract they signed would last two years. 

Will Xiaomi be able to make things happen in Vietnam within a short time?

After delays, Xiaomi has officially joined the Vietnamese smartphone market through Digiworld, the well-known Vietnamese technology product distributor.

The representative of Xiaomi said at a press conference in mid-March that Xiaomi products will be distributed through 6,000 points of sale across the country. 

The Chinese technology firm plans to explore the Vietnamese market with one high-end model – Mi Mix, priced at VND16.9 million, and two mid-tier models, Redmi Note 4 priced at VND4.7 million and Redmi 4A VND2.9 million.

Xiaomi, the Chinese technology startup, and Digiworld, its partner in Vietnam, have declined to reveal how long they will cooperate, but sources said the contract they signed would last two years.

It is clear to the business community that with Mi Mix, Xiaomi is just targeting branding, while Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4A will serve as the main product.

According to IDC Vietnam, a market survey firm, the average smartphone retail price in 2016 was VND4.8 million. 

As such, with Redmi Note 4 and Redmi 4A, Xiaomi will join the busiest market segment with products priced at VND3-7 million, and will ignore the low-cost market segment of VND1-3 million.

By the fourth quarter of 2016, Samsung led the market with 29 percent of the market share, followed by OPPO with 27 percent and Apple 10 percent.

Wang Xiang of Xiaomi, in a black suit and calm manner, has many times stressed at  press conferences that Xiaomi technology products have very competitive prices which will help them compete with big brands.

However, analysts said that Wang Xiang and his colleagues cannot deny that Xiaomi is now not as powerful as it was five years ago. 

In 2016, it fell from the first position to fourth in China. Richard Windsor, an analyst, has estimated that Xiaomi’s value has decreased from $45 billion to $3.6 billion.

“Xiaomi, like other Chinese phone manufacturers, is trying to expand markets overseas as a plan to regain strength amid big difficulties in their home market, which is now dominated by Huawei, OPPO and Vivo,” said Vo Le Tam Thanh from IDC Vietnam.

Not only phone manufacturers, but Chinese equipment manufacturers have also flocked to Vietnam to seek opportunities because they are still inspired by the high growth rate of the smartphone market.

Bluboo is an example, Quach Thoai Vu, director of Sao Viet, which is in charge of distributing Bluwoo products, said the partner is seeking opportunities for products with selling prices of VND2-5 million.

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