Smartphones and tablets are believed to have higher mobility, better serve the users’ demand for sharing information and for entertainment. Laptops are more frequently used for work.

However, the situation in Vietnam is a little bit different from the world’s. The number of laptops sold in 2015 was even higher than in 2014, but market revenue was nearly the same. This is attributed to Vietnamese taste: consumers tend to buy low-cost laptops instead of high-end products.

According to Gfk, the laptops priced at below VND10 million in 2015 account for nearly half of the sales. The 48.3 percent market share in 2015 was much higher than the 38 percent share in 2014. The highest growth rate has been reported for products priced at below VND8 million.

The sharpest decline in the laptop market is seen in the high-end market segment at VND10-14 million. The sales of high-end products, which accounted for 44.2 percent last year, have dropped to 33.6 percent.

High-end products all have strong configuration with the latest-generation Intel Core I for multiple demand processing.

Big changes have not been seen in the mid-tier market segment. In fact, the sales of the products were not high from the very beginning. The products just account for 15-16 percent of sales.

Le Tu from a computer shop on Thai Ha street in Hanoi noted that Vietnamese now do not like to show off by buying expensive laptop models with special features.

“If they want laptops for work, the models below VND10 million can satisfy their requirements,” he said.

The models priced at below VND5 million don’t have strong configuration but still allow word processing and basic operations. Meanwhile, the models are small and portable with strong batteries such as HP Stream, Asus X205T, Lenovo G4030 and Acer Aspire E5-411.

“Customers nowadays pay higher attention to the product quality and features than the design and supporting features. Therefore, the models priced at VND8 million are the most popular choice,” Tu said.

Fewer manufacturers launched their products on the market in 2015 than in 2014. Sony and Samsung laptops have disappeared from the market.

In related news, about 582,000 tablets were sold in Viet Nam in the first five months of the year, registering a 34 per cent year-on-year increase, GfK market research agency said.

Vietnamnet.vn