Vietnam smartphone shipments down 3% YoY in Q1 2022

Vietnam’s smartphone shipments witnessed a 3% YoY decrease in Q1 2022, according to Counterpoint Research’s Monthly Vietnam Channel Share Tracker. Even as inflation and component shortages impacted the quarter, reopening of the markets, and uptick in manufacturing activities helped in the shipments. The quarter had a great start due to the Lunar New Year celebrations, following which it declined in the subsequent months.

Samsung maintained its lead in the market in Q1 2022 with a 30.8% share driven by the popularity of its Galaxy A series and Galaxy S22 series, especially the Galaxy S22 Ultra. Vietnam’s consumers prefer premium smartphones and the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max were among the bestsellers in the category. Xiaomi took the second spot with a 20.6% share. Its success was driven by the Redmi 9 series and the recently launched Redmi Note 11 series. OPPO and vivo took the third and fourth spots with 14.4% and 11% shares respectively.

Talking about the factors affecting Vietnam’s smartphone shipments, Research Analyst Akash Jatwala said, “The Lunar New Year holiday season revived the demand at the beginning of the quarter, supported by new launches. In terms of promotions, brands had various offers on new launches. Xiaomi offered free Mi Pad 5 and Xiaomi Air Purifier on Xiaomi 12 series pre-orders, while OPPO offered a Bluetooth speaker and neck massager on Reno7 series pre-orders. Vietnam is a major mobile gaming market and brands are sponsoring events and games to capitalize on it. Samsung has become the official PUBG Mobile sponsor at the SEA Games.”

Online channel grew 20% YoY in Q1 2022 and made up 18% of the total shipments. E-commerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada had their sales events in March 2022, where they offered various deals on smartphones. Local e-commerce platform Tiki is also gaining popularity in Vietnam, as it offers discounts and two-hour deliveries.

Commenting on the manufacturing scenario, Jatwala said, “Manufacturing activities in Vietnam are gradually gathering pace. Workers started returning to work after the Lunar New Year holidays. Factories are hiring more workers to keep up with the demand. OEMs are increasing their investments to raise production capacities. However, global component shortages and inflation may act as a bottleneck in the country’s manufacturing activities and impact smartphone shipments going forward.”

CT Bureau