Samsung sales fall in Vietnam as Nokia bounces back: IDC
Samsung sales fall in Vietnam as Nokia bounces back: IDC
Samsung remained the leader in the Vietnamese smartphone market last year, despite slumping sales, whereas its rival Microsoft managed to increase their market share, according to the latest data released by tech research firm International Data Corporation (IDC).
In 2014, 28.7 million mobile phones, including 11.6 million smartphones, were sold in Vietnam, up 13 percent compared to a year earlier, IDC said in its Asia Pacific Phone Tracker report.
The South Korean phone maker accounted for 26 percent of all smartphones purchased in Vietnam in 2014, a strong drop from the 38 percent recorded in 2013
In 2012, there were more Samsung handsets sold in the Southeast Asian country than any other rival’s, with the world’s leading smartphone maker holding a market share of 54 percent.
The year 2014, however, was good for Samsung’s main competitors in Vietnam. Microsoft saw its market share grow from 16 percent in 2013 to 24 percent last year, according to the report.
The market share counted both Microsoft Mobile and the erstwhile Nokia products. The U.S. software titan bought Nokia’s device business in April last year for US$7.6 billion.
The smartphone market share of Microsoft in Vietnam is higher than in other regional markets, according to an IDC representative.
However, most Microsoft handsets are purchased by low-segment consumers, whereas Samsung continues to dominate the high-end segment.
China’s Oppo posted considerable growth of eight percent. The company only held a modest one percent market share in 2013.
The dramatic growth of Oppo is not a big surprise as the Chinese phone maker has pumped huge investments into marketing campaigns in Vietnam, including sponsoring many popular TV shows.
Zenfone, a brand distributed by Taiwan’s Asus, also managed to go from zero in 2013 to grab a six percent market share last year.
Smartphones accounted for 41 percent of the 28.7 million phones sold in Vietnam last year, a 57 percent year-on-year increase, according to the IDC report.
The market research firm projected that smartphones would prevail over feature phones in the Southeast Asian country this year.
On the global scale, Samsung remained the leader in the smartphone market in the fourth quarter of last year, however with a narrow 0.2 percent share lead over Apple, according to IDC.
Apple meanwhile reached a new record, falling just short of surpassing Samsung for overall leadership in the smartphone market.
An elevated consumer appetite for bigger-screen devices, as well as Apple's big push into China and other countries, saw iPhone sales up 44 percent in the U.S. and double in BRIC countries.
