The FINANCIAL — A total of 28.7 million mobile phones were shipped to Vietnam in 2014, reflecting an annual growth rate of 13% year-on-year (YoY), according to IDC’s Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, 2014 Q4.
Smartphones enjoyed the highest growth with total shipments of 11.6 million units, reflecting a YoY growth of 57%. Smartphones also represented 41% of all mobile phones shipped to Vietnam last year and are expected to eclipse feature phones in 2015.
“Rapidly declining smartphone prices has led to the rise of smartphone penetration rates in Vietnam throughout 2014,” says Võ Lê Tâm Thanh, Senior Market Analyst, Mobile Devices at IDC Vietnam. “The low-cost segment has been the main driver, with six out of ten smartphones as budget models priced below US$150 are shipped to Vietnam.”
Samsung remained the king of Vietnam smartphone market although its market share has fallen considerably over the past few years, from 54% in 2012 to 26% in 2014. Nokia/Microsoft on the other hand continued to grow strongly in Vietnam, climbing from 16% in 2013 to 24% in 2014.
“Microsoft continues to defy global trends with Vietnam where the company has established a stronghold within the region,” adds Daniel Pang, Senior Research Manager for Client Devices at IDC ASEAN. “However, most of its shipments are targeted towards budget consumers as the lucrative premium segment is still dominated by Apple and Samsung.”
IDC also recorded an increased in smartphone shipments within the 5″ to 5.5″ screen size band during last quarter of 2014. “While the Vietnamese are more resistant to phablet(*) craze as compared to the other markets, IDC continues to see growing interest in larger screen sizes,” adds Thanh. “This trend is helped by both declining prices and higher interest in internet browsing and mobile gaming on larger screen phones.”