Smartphone turnover beats feature phone sales for first time in Vietnam
Smartphone turnover beats feature phone sales for first time in Vietnam
Vietnamese consumers bought more smartphones than feature phones in the second quarter of 2015, market research firm IDC said.
Smartphone sales thus beat feature phone turnover for the first time in Vietnam, with a market share of 51 percent, compared to 44.5 percent in the previous quarter, The Saigon Times Online said, citing data from an IDC report.
Feature phones are handsets that incorporate such features as the ability to access the Internet and store and play music, but lack the advanced functionality of a smartphone.
Vietnam imported 6.5 million mobile phones in the second quarter, 500,000 devices fewer than the preceding three months, according to IDC.
These included 3.3 million smartphones, worth US$607 million.
Samsung held the biggest market share, 30 percent, followed by Microsoft (13 percent) and Asus (14 percent).
In terms of value, Samsung also took the lead with 36 percent, with Apple (13 percent) and Asus (11 percent) coming second and third.
Smartphone price in the second quarter averaged $183 a handset, down 26 percent quarter-on-quarter, which could explain the rise of sales as the devices have become more affordable.
Vietnam also imported 291,000 tablets worth $53 million in the second quarter, which posted almost no growth compared to the previous quarter, according to IDC.
The average price of tablets also dropped 31 percent from the first quarter to $183 a device.
