VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam’s phone set exports have been
increasing steadily year after year. However, most of the exports are made by
foreign invested enterprises.
According to the General
Department of Customs (GDC), the phone set export turnover had reached 9.24
billion dollars by mid October 2012, an increase of 4.66 billion dollars (101.8
percent) in comparison with the same period of the last year.
Phone manufacturers still have
been gaining high growth rates despite the economic downturn. However, “phone
manufacturers” here mean foreign invested enterprises, not Vietnamese.
The made-in-Vietnam products
Vietnam reportedly exports 2.3
billion dollars’ worth of phone sets in 2010. Since that year, phones have been
added into the list of the key export items of Vietnam and the list of the
products with high growth rates.
In the first nine months of 2012,
the phone set export turnover reached 8.63 billion dollars, up by 122 percent
in comparison with the same period of the last year.
However, the high export turnover
does not mean the strong development of the Vietnamese phone manufacturing
industry.
2009 and 2010 were considered the
golden age for the manufacturers that make the products bearing Vietnamese
brands, namely Q-Mobile and Bluefone.
The “Vietnamese brand mobile
phones” means the products are bearing Vietnamese brands, but are made in
China. The only thing that can be made in Vietnam is just the phone’s plastic
cover, which makes up less than one percent of the value of the product.
“We don’t have chip, board or
battery manufacturing factories. How can we make really Vietnamese mobile phone
products?” said Dinh Anh Huan, Business Director of The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile
World), one of the biggest mobile phone distribution chains in Vietnam.
Dr Nguyen Minh Phong, a
well-known economist, said that Vietnamese enterprises deserve no credit for
the high achievement.
The big export turnover of mobile
phone products has been associated with the South Korean manufacturer Samsung
whose export turnover is up to one billion dollars a month.
What does it mean by “Vietnamese phone industry?”
Experts all affirm that Vietnam
still cannot make mobile phone products from A to Z. Vu Minh Tri, General
Director of Microsoft Vietnam, said Vietnamese enterprises just simply assemble
parts, or import finished products for domestic sale, do the marketing for
foreign products, or make some mobile apps.
Nguyen Van Dao, Deputy General
Director of Samsung Vina, also said made-in-Vietnam mobile phones have been
churned out and distributed all over the world since 2009, when a Samsung’s
mobile phone factory in Bac Ninh province became operational.
However, a purely Vietnamese
mobile phone, designed and made in Vietnam, or designed and outsourced to
foreign companies has not come out yet.
“Vietnam still does not have a
fundamental for the electronics – telecom industry. We can design some parts of
the products or organize small scale production, but we are not experienced
enough to design and make a complete product,” Dao said.
A long path ahead
In early October 2012, Viettel
Group launched into the market Sumo 2G mobile phone V6206, stating that the
product is designed by Viettel and made on its production line. This is a very
important step made by Viettel in implementing its strategy to produce telecom
equipments.
However, experts say with the
product, Vietnam is still at the very beginning of the mobile phone industry
development, and that Vietnam still needs to do many more things before it can
obtain a phone manufacturing industry.
Tien Phong
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. Since we are currently changing the platform of www.yourvietnamexpert.com, you may contact us at: sbc.pte@gmail.com, provisionally. Many thanks.
