Concerns over high inventory occurred from 2012 did not stop Vietnam's PC market from recording solid year-over-year growth in the first quarter of the year.

According to IDC's Vietnam Quarterly PC Tracker, nearly 500,000 PCs were shipped in the first quarter, a drop of 20 percent sequentially, but a growth of 13 percent year-on-year.

Anticipation of growing consumer demand in under-penetrated areas of Vietnam spurred vendors to increase consumer PC shipments.

"In light of aggressive competition and pressure from smart phones and tablets, vendors have shifted strategies to focus on mid- to low-end PCs in a bid to gain market share in the consumer area," said Phan Thi Hoang Yen, market analyst for PCs at IDC Vietnam.

In the commercial space, sentiments were weak, with many SMEs facing bankruptcies in the last year.

"The SME sector has faced major difficulties, but Government spending has picked up and helped the overall commercial market record year-on-year growth of 8 percent," she said.

Despite the concerns over the market's long-term stability, IDC is still forecasting 5 percent growth for Vietnam's PC market in 2013.

"Vietnamese PC vendors have just come out of a tough year. The banking crisis has triggered a spike in corporate bankruptcies and consumer sentiment is diminished," said Daniel Pang, ASEAN Research Manager for Client Devices Research at IDC Asia/Pacific.

"However, there are signs that Government reforms and new policies could rejuvenate IT spending, and public sector spending is also expected to pick up in the second half of 2013. Therefore, we remain optimistic on Vietnam's outlook," he added.

From a vendor perspective, Dell has been actively working with its channel partners to improve its inventory management and channel margins.

This allows the vendor to be more price-competitive in the low- to mid-range segment in the consumer space.

HP, meanwhile, continues to do well in the commercial market, with a Government project and steady buying from its large enterprise accounts.

In the consumer market, the vendor has started to focus on low- to mid-range notebooks as well. 

ASUS has adopted an aggressive pricing strategy to clear out stocks and improve inventory levels, with good results, according to IDC. -VNA