Phones made by local manufacturer Vsmart have surpassed those of US giant Apple, in terms of retail revenue in the Vietnamese market in January.

Vsmart surpasses Apple in sales through traditional retail channels
in Vietnam for the first time (Photo: VNA)

According to the latest statistics from GfK, Germany's largest market research institute, in the first month of this year, the phone brand owned by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong accounted for 7.7% of the smartphone market in the traditional retail segment. Meanwhile, Apple held 6.5%.

In the market, Vsmart ranked fourth in sales in this retail channel, followed by Apple, while the top three positions went to Samsung, Oppo, and Vivo.

In the traditional retail channel, Vsmart's market share has increased by 5.8, 6.6, and 7.7% in the three months since November. In January, Vsmart sold 107,498 smartphones, while Apple sold 90,745 iPhones.

However, Apple has a large market share in the online sales channel. The firm accounts for 15.7% in non-traditional retail channels in Vietnam, ranking behind Samsung. Meanwhile, Vsmart holds a 7.8% of stake in the online channel.

Combining the two channels, in January, Vsmart sold 125,181 smartphones and Apple sold 126,338. 

An industry insider told media that: "Vsmart had good sales thanks to a half-price promotion programme for its products of Vsmart Live a few months ago, then a VND2 million (US$86.95) discount for the new Vsmart Active 3."

The insider continued: "If Vsmart can participate in the upcoming project to promote smartphones among the Vietnamese population by the Ministry of Information and Communications, its market share will continue to increase sharply."

According to GfK data, apart from Samsung and Oppo, which are firmly holding the first and second positions in the smartphone market, Apple's third position is under siege by rivals Xiaomi, Realme, Vivo, and Vsmart. The market share of these brands is relatively even, lagging far behind the second position, Oppo.