What do smartphone retailers in Vietnam say after Huawei incident?

Huawei flagships are still available at retail outlets (Photo: Vietnam +)

Hanoi (VNA) - After Google stopped licensing Android to Huawei on May 20, smartphone user community in Vietnam worried about the products they are using. Even many rumors have it that retail chains in Vietnam are preparing to stop selling Huawei's smartphone, and will soon launch discount programs to discharge inventory.

A recent survey of a number of major mobile phone retailers in Hanoi indicated that the sales of Huawei phones were still normal and the product price did not decrease as rumored.

Representatives of a number of retail chains said that, their sales of Huawei phones have decreased slightly, but not significantly, because normally, sales of Huawei have not been as high as Samsung and Apple.

Huawei's product sales are relatively small in Vietnam market because the brand has few new models. Its marketing and promotion programmes are not as many as the Oppo or Samsung brand. A representative of The gioi di dong said that the store is running some promotions for Huawei's most advanced phones.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Anh, FPT's Deputy General Director, affirmed that the business of Huawei's products was still completely normal. "We will continue to monitor the situation, listen to consumer feedback and work closely with Huawei to ensure the interests of our customers."

According to a representative from CellphoneS, Huawei has informed dealers that Huawei phones sold are still in normal use. In case of not any agreement with Google is reached, Huawei will develop its own operating system.

In case sold Huawei phones cannot run Google applications, CellphoneS will buy back the phones with the same prices as the buyers bought unless they have to upgrade their phones.

Dealers are committed to still apply warranty and phone exchange policies in any cases (Photo: Vietnam +)

Nguyen Tien Trong, owner of a shop specializing in selling Chinese phones on Bach Mai Street (Hanoi), said that his customers are generally afraid of buying new Huawei phones. But Trong also asserted that the customers who have bought  Huawei phone still do not want to sell their phones back.

"Following the information of Google cutting ties with Huawei, the purchasing power of our customers has not shown any sign of declining. Even some of Huawei's products such as Mate20 Pro or GT watches are selling better."

Mr. Le Dung, owner of a mobile shop on Lang Street (Hanoi), expressed his concern as Huawei has not yet issued a policy for already-sold products but Mr. Dung said the business of Huawei smartphone devices will not change much in a short time.

"We still have no inventory clearance plan, our business is still normal. The store is trying to work with Huawei and will continuously update the latest information to ensure the rights of customers".

In fact, Huawei phones sold in Vietnam can still access Google services at the moment, including installing applications from the Google Play Store or using Gmail, YouTube. However, it is likely that users will not be able to use security applications in the future when Google has a new update.

Huawei's flagship models still use Google software in Vietnam (Photo: Vietnam+)

Also on May 21, the U.S. announced it had granted a 90-day license for mobile phone companies and internet broadband providers to work with Huawei to keep existing networks online and protect users from security risks.

According to IDC data, for the first quarter of 2019, Huawei is the second largest smartphone manufacturer in the world with 19% market share (after Samsung and on Apple). Huawei's largest market is China. In China, Huawei is the only major smartphone company to maintain the upward momentum, while Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi and Apple have all experienced negative growth./.