Over 206,000 tablets were sold in Vietnam in the first six months of the year, an extensive 233 percent increment compared to the same period a year ago.
Research firm GfK said the overall worth of the local tablet market has expanded by 160 percent during this same comparison period, translating to consumers having spent a total of USD94 million on tablet purchases in the last six months.
Demand for tablets has been consecutively trending up at a considerable pace in the last four quarters to reach a total of 294,000 units sold in the last 12 months.
“Although the market in Vietnam is relatively smaller and less technologically advanced when compared to the other countries in Southeast Asia, tablets have already started appealing to the mass with sales picking up and growing at a rapid pace,” observed Van Tran Khoa, Managing Director for GfK Vietnam. “The rising prevalence of this device in recent times is largely driven by its lowering prices over the recent years which makes it more and more affordable.”
GfK’s retail audit tracking reveals an apparent steady downtrend in the average price of tablets, since the commencement of this service in Vietnam at the beginning of 2012. While the highest point of USD512 was reported in December 2012, average selling price of tablets have subsequently dropped 25 percent in the latest June 2013 report to hover around USD385.
Similar to trends elsewhere around the region, consumers are exhibiting their preference for tablets running on the Android operating system. Sales volume of Android tablets occupied 59 percent of total tablets sold in the country last year, but has expanded to take up 64 percent of the pie this year.
“As one of the least developed market in Southeast Asia, we anticipate the tablet market in Vietnam to continue its brisk uptrend, with take up rate mirroring that of our developed counterparts around the region in time to come,” said Van. “It will be increasingly competitive and no doubt, interesting to see how the competition plays out as the adoption continues to surge and the marketplace continues to develop,” Van Tran Khoa concluded.