According to the General Statistics Office, phone and component exports in April earned more than $4.2 billion, up 9.1 per cent on-year. For the first four months of the year, this figure reached more than $18.4 billion, an increase of 6.6 per cent on-year.

A report from HSBC said that since 2021, Vietnam's smartphone market share globally has increased significantly. Vietnam has won 13 per cent of the total export market share, surpassing India to become the world's second-largest smartphone exporter behind China.

In terms of markets, the United States has become Vietnam's largest customer instead of China (in the first quarter of last year). Specifically, in the first quarter of this year, the US spent more than $3.05 billion importing all types of phones and components from Vietnam, an increase of 30.4 per cent on-year. The Chinese market ranked second with more than $2.5 billion, down 28 per cent on-year.

Notably, the United Arab Emirates has risen to become Vietnam's third-largest customer with almost $898 million, a sharp increase of 55.3 per cent on year.

Vietnam has become attractive to phone manufacturers around the world. In April, Apple CEO Tim Cook arrived in Vietnam, opening up more potential between our country and the US technology giant. During a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the CEO also proposed promoting high-quality cooperation and investment, committing to buy more components produced by suppliers in Vietnam, supporting innovation activities, and increasing spending for suppliers in Vietnam.

Also in April, Samsung Electronics Vietnam Thai Nguyen (SEVT) - the largest export phone manufacturing factory in the world - achieved an important milestone of reaching one billion Galaxy smartphones. SEVT's key products are smartphones and tablets.

Samsung started investing heavily in Vietnam in 2008 with the Samsung Electronics Vietnam (SEV) factory in Bac Ninh province. To date, Samsung has surpassed the milestone of 2.13 billion smart devices in the Galaxy ecosystem manufactured in Vietnam.

According to Counterpoint Research, global smartphone shipments in 2024 are expected to increase by 3 per cent to 1.2 billion units. The high-end phone segment (priced at $600-799) is expected to maintain stable growth in 2024, increasing by 17 per cent on-year thanks to old high-end models and folding screen models.

This research firm expects AI-integrated smartphones and foldable phones to improve phone sales, especially in the second half of this year.

According to Statista Market Research Company, in 2024, the smartphone market in Vietnam is expected to reach $4 billion, a compound growth rate of 1.45 per cent from 2024-2028. In 2024, smartphone sales in Vietnam will reach 21.4 million units.