4G smartphones are booming in Vietnam

More than half of the smartphones on genuine shelves this year support 4G network connection, including popular models priced at only a few million VND.

It was not until the end of the year that the fourth generation (4G) mobile network technology was officially deployed by network operators. But according to statistics from the Mobile World system, of the more than 150 smartphone models being sold officially in Vietnam, nearly 90 products support 4G network connection. Compared to last year, the number of models has increased three times.

4G network connection technology provides Internet connection speeds 3 to 7 times faster than 3G.

More and more new smartphones are equipped with 4G, not just Wi-Fi or 3G connections as before. Samsung, the phone company with the largest market share in Vietnam, is also the brand with the most 4G products on the market today. 17 out of 27 Galaxy models running Android of the company in Vietnam have integrated the new generation of mobile network technology.

The increasing appearance of 4G smartphones in the domestic market is not surprising when sooner or later the network operators will officially implement the upgrade from 3G to 4G platform, said Mr. Ha Manh Tuan, manager of a telephone system in Hanoi. From the end of 2015 until now, all three major network operators in Vietnam have provided 4G service trials. They even carried out campaigns to change old SIM cards to new generation SIM cards that support 4G. Therefore, terminal equipment manufacturers have to start racing, launching products first to anticipate the needs of users.

The 3G network connection popular on smartphones in Vietnam today has a theoretical maximum download speed of 7.2 Mbps or up to 42 Mbps with the 3.5G (HSPA) advanced connection. Meanwhile, the theoretical speed of the 4G network connection reaches 150 Mbps, even 300 Mbps in the upgraded version. 4G test results show that this technology provides Internet speeds 3 to 7 times faster than 3G and even faster than regular Wi-Fi networks..

Despite the sharp increase in numbers, the market needs more low-cost 4G smartphones to become popular.

Along with the rapid growth in quantity, the price of 4G-enabled smartphones in Vietnam is getting lower and lower as there are now products on the market that cost less than 2 million VND, such as Lenovo's A2010 model or Obi's MV1. However, the choice of 4G smartphones in the low-cost segment under 4 million VND is not diverse.If in the high-end and mid-range smartphone segment of 5 million VND or more, users can choose 4G products of any brand, on the contrary, the choice in the popular segment is still limited. Most of the cheap 4G models come from new Chinese brands.

Among the big names in the Vietnamese market, only Samsung has diversified its 4G-enabled smartphones because its product range extends from high-end, mid-range to popular segments. Models priced at only 2 to 3 million VND such as Galaxy J2 or J3 already support 4G LTE. Meanwhile, competitors such as HTC, Sony or Oppo have only integrated 4G into mid-range smartphones from 5 million VND and up. As for Apple, the cheapest iPhone model with 4G LTE, iPhone 5s, still costs 7 million VND.

According to the phone business community, although the number of products is increasing rapidly, 4G smartphones still need more time to become a choice trend for users in Vietnam. When 4G service has not been officially and widely deployed by network operators, it cannot show users clearly the difference and change compared to 3G.

According to VNE