Changes in Vietnam's phone market in 2024

Stop using 2G phones

From October 15, 2024, Vietnam officially stopped 2G waves, making "brick" phones that only support 2G (also known as 2G Only) unusable. This plan was prepared many years in advance and contributed to creating one of the biggest changes in the phone market in Vietnam in 2024.

According to the Department of Telecommunications ( Ministry of Information and Communications ), in early 2024, the whole country had about 18 million 2G Only subscribers, but at the time of signal cut-off, only less than 1% of them had not converted because they could not be contacted. Thus, the whole market had millions of users changing their phones, eliminating devices that only supported 2G.

Stopping 2G waves can be considered an event that will have a great impact on the phone market in Vietnam in 2024.

The 2G wave cutting plan will continue after October 15, 2024 because there are still a certain number of subscribers using old 3G and 4G smartphones that are not compatible with VoLTE technology, so they still depend on 2G waves to make calls. By September 2026, network operators will officially stop all 2G connections, forcing this group of customers to change to new devices to ensure communication.

4G, 5G phone sales increase thanks to 2G shutdown roadmap

As mentioned above, the shutdown of 2G signals has created a wave of mobile device conversion of about 18 million subscribers. These users have the choice of buying a basic phone, with traditional buttons but 4G support, or upgrading to a low-cost, mid-range smartphone.

Many domestic mobile retail systems estimate that phone sales in 2024 will grow by double digits compared to last year thanks to the digital transformation process. Market research firm Counterpoint Research reported that more than 50% of smartphones sold in Vietnam in the third quarter of 2024 were in the price segment under 5 million VND.

Users spend more on upper segment phones

In addition to the sudden increase in sales in the low-cost smartphone segment, sales of mid-range and high-end phones are still increasing. This shows that users are willing to spend more on expensive phones after a long period of "tightening their belts" due to the economic impacts of Covid-19.

The mid-range segment also has stronger competition, especially from brands from China. In 2024, brands such as Vivo, Honor, Oppo, Xiaomi, Tecno... all launched new phone models in the price range from 6 to about 15 million VND, providing many choices for consumers. According to a representative of a mobile retailer, the average selling price of smartphones in 2024 increased by about 10 - 15%.

Sales of expensive phones are up, showing that users are willing to spend more on high-end devices

AI phones are more popular

If in 2023, AI (artificial intelligence) was still a concept that manufacturers were quite cautious about when mentioning smartphones, then in 2024, this technology became a factor that was mentioned a lot to attract users. A series of manufacturers applied AI and expanded the capabilities on phones, not only in smart photography (image processing, background removal, scene segmentation) but also helped users translate, search intelligently, enhance virtual assistants...

Currently, both users of mid-range phones costing over 10 million VND and owners of flagships costing tens of millions of VND can experience and utilize the power of AI at different levels. This is also predicted to explode even more in 2025.

The high-end phone market is bustling

The Vietnamese phone market has been a "two-horse race" between Apple and Samsung for many years. This situation may change in the near future when many other brands begin to return to the high-end smartphone segment. Starting with Xiaomi with the 14 Ultra model, marking the first time this manufacturer has brought the Ultra line to Vietnam.

Sony continues with the next generation of flagships called Xperia 1 VI. Oppo also returned after 2 years of absence with the Find X8 Pro and Find X8 duo. Honor "entered" the high-end market with the Magic V3 folding phone. Meanwhile, another brand, Nothing Phone, although not yet having a representative in Vietnam, has managed to launch its highest-end Nothing Phone 2 in the Vietnamese market through a domestic mobile retailer.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhung-thay-doi-cua-thi-truong-dien-thoai-viet-nam-trong-nam-2024-185241225113654451.htm