Export route of Vietnamese smartphones

On the morning of March 22, Mr. Nguyen Tu Quang – CEO of BKAV shared on his personal page that the company exported the first batch of Bphone phones to Europe for a military power (later revealed to be Ukraine). . Although it caused some controversy when posting contracts with many details obscured, but also from here, people who closely followed the movements of the Vietnamese mobile market suddenly realized that Vietnamese mobile carriers, Although facing many difficulties right on “home field”, he was very hard to find a way to export abroad. The way “abroad” of each company is not the same.

Mobiistar – “go far to return”

Although never considered a major manufacturer in Vietnam, for many years, Mobiistar still has a certain foothold in the market thanks to low-priced smartphones aimed at popular users. This company also loyal to the policy of outsourcing products from China, focusing only on sales and branding.

In May 2018, Mobiistar suddenly announced a partnership with Indian e-commerce site Flipkart to sell two selfie-specialized smartphones, XQ Dual and CQ. This move marks the first time that a Vietnamese mobile carrier has entered the Indian market.

With the selling price equivalent to 2.7 million and 1.7 million dong, Mobiistar did not hide its intention to take over the cheap smartphone segment in the 1.3 billion population market at that time. “We choose India because this is a big market, there are many interesting things about technology, advancement with new innovations”, Mr. Ngo Nguyen Kha (Carl Ngo) – CEO of Mobiistar said at the launch of the brand. brand in India.

Mr. Kha’s choice at that time was said to be “the right place, the right time, the right product”. Initially, Mobiistar only sold phones online, but soon expanded to sell offline when it discovered that Indian users tend to want to go to the store and feel the product before buying. In 9 months, Mobiistar launched 9 mobile models in India. Speaking to the press in the country, CEO Ngo Nguyen Kha called this strategy “going far to return”. However, the date of Mobiistar’s return meets many difficulties.

A year later, news of Mobiistar withdrawing from the Indian market appeared flooded in local newspapers, just as quickly and unexpectedly as the way this brand appeared.

The Indian newspaper confirmed that Mobiistar left this market after its local manufacturing partner, Vsun Technologies, stopped production. Vsun filed for bankruptcy in China in May 2019 and fired all Indian employees at the same time. Mobiistar’s supply chain has been hit hard.

Mobiistar’s “far away” trip also becomes the brand’s farewell greeting for the Vietnamese market. After 2019, Mobiistar phones will no longer appear on domestic shelves. In fact, the company’s sales have declined in Vietnam since 2018 and Mobiistar’s bold move to India is considered the last move to save this brand but it is not successful.

Bkav chooses a niche

Bphone of BKAV possesses many unique features compared to most competitors in the market. However, over 4 product generations, this model is still controversial, product sales are always a mystery because the manufacturer does not disclose information.

In July 2019, Bphone 3 officially appeared in Myanmar market. Previously, the company established a branch in Myanmar with more than half of its employees being indigenous people, 3 service centers and 27 warranty receiving points. The representative of BKAV at that time affirmed that Bphone would compete with high-end mobile models, building a smartphone brand “made in Vietnam” in this country. In Myanmar, Bkav cooperates with operator MyTel (Viettel’s brand to sell Bphone. Up to now, there is no information about whether Bphone B86 will be sold in Myanmar or not and how the business of this brand is in Myanmar. .

Recently, BKAV CEO Nguyen Tu Quang continued to announce the sale of the Bphone B60 model – its mid-range model – in Europe “for the VIPs” with its own security operating system based on the BOS platform.

B60 and B40 are two cheap models launched with B86 but have not had a chance to be on shelves in the Vietnamese market. Mr. Quang also recently announced to stop selling these 2 products in Vietnam because they are “no longer suitable”.

VinSmart chooses to work hard

VinSmart has a great success in 2020 when it reaches the top 3 mobile market share in Vietnam only 18 months after its launch. VinSmart’s solid foundation with the Vsmart brand name is popular smartphones with high configuration and reasonable prices.

In October 2020, Bloomberg revealed that VinSmart and AT&T had reached an agreement to sell Vsmart phones to the US. In which, VinSmart is a product manufacturing partner while the phone will carry the AT&T brand name.

In December 2020, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong – General Director of VinSmart’s Phone Division confirmed that smartphones produced by this company will be sold in the US in 2021. As of February 2021, 3 smartphone models “made in” Vietnam “produced by VinSmart is officially sold on retail sites in the US, named Maestro Plus, Motivate and Fusion Z.

According to experts, the US is the most difficult mobile market in the world with strict regulations on product standards as well as a very high level of competition. VinSmart’s choice to sell products through AT&T partners is like a move to “throw stones to find the way” before bringing its main product, the Vsmart Aris 5G phone, to the US.

The strength of VinSmart is that they have potentials with a huge factory with an expected capacity of up to 125 million units per year, a clear product development strategy, and gradually grasping new technologies. most of mobile villages. However, entering and succeeding in the US market is still something very difficult, needing real breakthrough steps. Maybe in this year 2021, VinSmart’s strategy and market making in the US will be revealed.