VietNamNet Bridge – Despite the current big economic
difficulties, the mobile phone market has been growing steadily. The national
economy has spent billions of dollars to import the luxurious products.
A report by the General
Department of Customs (GDC) has shown that Vietnam had spent 3.7 billion
dollars by October 15 to import mobile phones and accessories.
The money spending race
The people, who call themselves
the authentic citizens of the digital age, have been showing off their newly
bought iPhone 5s on Facebook, Yahoo! and other social networks. Classified ads
of newspapers show the offers to sell iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, nearly brand new,
because the products’ owners are going to buy the latest generation iPhone –
iPhone 5.
Nguyen Dong, 28, an office worker
in HCM City, said he has sold his iPhone 4 at 8 million dong, and then bought
an iPhone 5 at 23 million dong right after seeing the iPhone 5 in the hands of
a colleague.
When asked why Dong insists on an
iPhone 5, though his iPhone 4 still keeps working properly, Dong said he is a
fan of high technology products, which would become out of date just overnight.
Huu, a businessman in district 10
of HCM City, said that he is a loyal client of Apple’s products. Therefore, he
has many Apple’s things, including iPhone 3, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, and the
New iPad.
“Previously, I kept every product
of Apple, but I have just sold some of them, because they have been left
unused,” he said, adding that he has bought the New iPad for the daughter who
likes listening to music and playing games.
Especially, a lot of Vietnamese
people tried to possess an iPhone 5 very soon; right after the first products
hit the shelves in the US. Apple’s announced retail prices are 199, 299 and 399
dollars, while some Vietnamese people accepted to pay 30 million dong, or
nearly 1500 dollars, to have the super products soon, before the products are
available on a large scale in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese tendency of using
luxurious expensive products instead of reasonable ones has helped make new
high technology products sell like hot cakes in Vietnam, even though Vietnam is
just a small part of the world’s high technology product market.
Too much dollar spent on luxurious products
Also according to the General
Department of Customs, the import turnover of mobile phones and phone
accessories in the first nine months of the year reached 3.44 billion dollars,
an increase of 92 percent over the same period of the last year.
The figure would be even higher
if counting on the mobile phones carried to Vietnam across the border gates by
the people entering the country
A report by IDC Vietnam market survey
firm showed that though the mobile market witnessed a decline in the second
quarter in comparison with the first quarter of 2012, it still obtained the
two-digit growth rate of 10.9 percent over the same period of the last year.
The 10.9 percent growth rate has
been described as “impressive” in the context of the big economic difficulties
with very high inventory index.
The two high technology groups in
the world Nokia and Samsung still hold the biggest market share in Vietnam.
Nokia had led the market by the second quarter of the year with 50 percent of
the mobile phones sold on Vietnam bearing Nokia brand. Meanwhile, Samsung keeps
leading the smart phone market.
Dr Nguyen Minh Phong has warned
that the overly high spending on luxurious imports would have negative impacts
on the national economy. Vietnam ha been wasting money on non-essential goods,
while a lot of businesses complain they cannot buy foreign currencies to make
payment for the import materials needed for local production.
Le Khac
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