Retail News CRM

Category: Electronics

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Electronics news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • From Smartphones To Smarthomes, Xiaomi’s Resurgence As A Global Hardware Leader

    From Smartphones To Smarthomes, Xiaomi’s Resurgence As A Global Hardware Leader

    Xiaomi relied a lot on online sales in its first years, selling competitively-equipped smartphones at cost. With that strategy, Xiaomi managed to rise to the top of the smartphone charts in China and India within four years of its establishment, becoming the third largest smartphone maker in the world by 2014.

    However, the rising giant hit a rough patch at home in 2015, dealing with a crowded, slowing Chinese market. Xiaomi’s smartphone shipments grew by 226 percent in 2014, slowing to just 17.6 percent growth in 2015. Shipment volume declined in 2016 to a rumored 41 million (down from over 70 million in 2015) scaling back global expansion and giving its investors something to worry about.

    That setback didn’t last. Xiaomi has since expanded its smartphone shipments to Europe, becoming the fourth largest company behind Samsung, Huawei, and Apple in Central and Eastern Europe in Q2 2017.

    But the world outside of China was not enough. As the world’s largest smartphone market, China is strategically important to Xiaomi, but its strategies for early success in this ever-changing region were unsustainable. Today we’ll explore how the combination of platform, offline retail, and marketing expansion has allowed Xiaomi to regain traction back in China and expand globally.

    Xiaomi’s China Struggle

    Xiaomi’s 2015 stagnation and 2016 shipment decline was due to a number of factors. Slowed growth in the Chinese smartphone market in 2015, for one, contributed to the setback. However, the changing competitive landscape in the region was possibly the unicorn’s biggest challenge.

    Competitive Advantage Disappears

    Xiaomi maintained a strategy of flash sales and relying on its loyal user base to bypass traditional marketing expenses combined with online sales to forgo the costs of brick and mortar retail stores.

    Xiaomi’s business strategy proved to be a strength in its first couple of years, but contributed to its struggle in 2015 and 2016 as the flash sales system has for other e-commerce companies in the past. Furthermore, with online sales its primary means of attracting users, Xiaomi potentially neglected key consumers in lower-tier cities and rural areas of China, where individuals relied more on local retailers because of logistical barriers.

    Emerging players like Oppo and Vivo filled the gap left by Xiaomi’s absence in these areas in 2015 and 2016, selling low-end smartphones, but also offering offline retail stores in rural areas. Oppo now has a reported 200,000 brick and mortar retailers in rural China.

    Furthermore, unlike Xiaomi, with an offline approach to sales and no online fanbase, Vivo and Oppo relied on aggressive advertising and retail subsidies to market their products and gain users. This strategy worked well for the two companies. Oppo became the leading smartphone supplier in China in 2016, with a year over year growth in shipments of 122.2 percent.

    After Xiaomi’s slowed growth in 2015, the company had to prove its viability to investors, especially with a $45 billion valuation riding on its back. It declined to release its sales numbers in 2016, with CEO Lei Jun admitting that the company “grew too fast and drew on some long-term growth.” Xiaomi refocused on switching strategies, playing off of its branding as a company for the Internet of Things (IoT), responding to retail challenges, and refocusing its marketing techniques.

    Xiaomi Responds With Investments, Brick And Mortar, And Celebrities

    As he stated stated in the early days of the company, Lei Jun always claimed to imagine Xiaomi as less of a smartphone provider and more of a smart home device innovator. Xiaomi started selling TVs back in 2014, adding to the list of non-smartphone items that it had already offered, including portable batteries, set-top boxes, and fitness trackers. The company also developed online media and gaming content.

    With players like Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, and Lenovo taking note of the company’s low-end smartphone approach, Xiaomi aimed to do more to brand itself as a tech company for the Internet of Things.

    In 2016, it launched a mobile payment service, an electric bicycle, a thin MacBook Air-like computer (the creatively-named Mi Notebook Air), a drone, a smartphone-connected rice cooker, a new, thinner MiTV, and an electric ukulele. Xiaomi’s Mainland China website is filled with connected devices, including everything from smartphone-controlled water purifiers and vacuum cleaners to story-telling kids toys and GoPro-like cameras—all connected through the Xiaomi Mi Home app exclusively on its smartphones.

    Xiaomi managed to build out its smart home platform by investing in hardware-focused startups and “giving them access to its designers, marketers, and massive supply chain in exchange for a 10- to 20-percent stake and the right to brand and sell those products.” This outsourcing strategy allowed the company to develop its smart home ecosystem. Further, the company maintained its goal of selling its flagship, increasingly innovative smartphones at lower prices than its competitors, as its earnings are driven by its other devices.

    Offering the lowest priced smartphone was key to smartphone shipment growth, but by linking its smart ecosystem exclusively through its smartphones, Xiaomi could drive growth even more. However, if the company wanted to compete with Oppo and Vivo, it could no longer neglect those retail customers outside of the urban landscape. The second part of Xiaomi’s comeback involved a huge platform shift.

    Brick And Mortar Expansion

    “Xiaomi has great ambitions, and we are not satisfied with just being an e-commerce smartphone brand,” Jun told Techcrunch in 2017. “So we have to upgrade our retail model, and incorporate offline retail for a new retail strategy.”

    The company that was built upon a platform that eschewed brick and mortar retail decided to bring its sales offline.

    Following through with this plan, by the end of 2016 Xiaomi opened more than 50 Mi Home stores in Mainland China. In 2017 it expanded that effort, opening stores in major metropolitan areas, like Beijing, with plans to launch 1,000 stores in China, and 2,000 stores globally by 2019.

    Xiaomi differentiated its brick and mortar effort from that of Oppo, Vivo, Lenovo and Huawei by essentially combining Apple’s physical retail setup with product variety. It packed its stores with its smartphones and new smart home devices to entice customers to return to the store frequently and spend more time and money buying its products.

    The People’s Smartphone

    Xiaomi met its new retail and platform expansion projects with a reinvigorated marketing approach– a marked shift from relying on its online fanbase. An IDC analyst said that the company is directing more of its funds to marketing and advertising.  In 2016, more billboards and ads popped up in public areas calling its Redmi line of smartphones the “People’s Smartphone.” In July 2017, the company unveiled its new dual-camera flagship the Mi 5X along with a flashy endorsement by Chinese musical sensation, Kris Wu.

    With its shifted strategy, Xiaomi began to regain some ground in the Chinese market in 2017.

    Looking at quarterly data in the Chinese smartphone industry, Canalys analyst Hattie He told Crunchbase News that the company led in the under $200 market in China in Q3 2017 with 22 percent of the market share in the segment. In Q4 it ranked second in that category by a small margin, with Huawei taking 25 percent and Xiaomi 24 percent, followed by Vivo and Oppo at 12 and 8 percent, respectively.

    Even so, Apple overtook Xiaomi in 2017 for fourth place in China. With a decline in smartphone sales in the region in 2017, competition is only going to heat up in the industry. Companies that heavily rely on their home market for cashflow will likely face significant difficulties in 2018, with Lenovo and ZTE refocusing on the Chinese market.

    Hattie expects Xiaomi to stick to its current strategy.

    “Xiaomi will keep paying attention to in-house hardware investments, including smartphones and IoT devices… [It] will partner with other well-known hardware and software companies to go into different sectors and provide customized experiences for [the Chinese] market,” Hattie explained.

    She also expects the company to continue its online-offline approach by establishing more MiHome stores in sub-tier cities in 2018 to reach a broad consumer base and build a reliable brand image.

    Xiaomi’s Global Expansion

    In 2017, Xiaomi’s rebound was mirrored in its efforts and successes abroad. After scaling back its global efforts in 2016, the company has since expanded again to markets in South East Asia and elsewhere, taking a top five spot in Central and Eastern Europe in 2017. It increased its offline activity and partnered with local smart device companies in India in 2017, and overtook Samsung as the lead player in the region that year.

    Of course, even with these global wins, the company has a long way to go to compete with Apple in the West. It launched an online store for the U.S. and has been selling its globally successful fitness wearable and battery packs in the U.S. since 2015. It started selling set-top boxes in Walmarts beginning in 2016, and in November 2017 released a few of its products on Amazon.

    However, expanding smartphone sales to the U.S. is something the company has considered carefully. If Xiaomi entered the U.S., it would compete with Apple and Google in their home markets, but that isn’t its biggest problem. Xiaomi’s past experiences with the companies regarding intellectual property and design theft mean that the company will have to come into the market patented up and prepared for legal backlash– something Xiaomi has dealt with before. When it entered India in 2014, its sales were initially halted when it was slapped with an IP lawsuit. Coming from China, where regulations surrounding IP are significantly more lax, to the U.S. will be quite a shift.

    Beyond IP, the company will also have to face the mounting security concerns surrounding Chinese tech companies which have intensified over the past few months. As we reported, a move to the U.S. didn’t work out for Xiaomi competitor Huawei, who was abandoned by AT&T before CES 2018. Xiaomi has made efforts in the past to overcome the narrative surrounding Chinese companies by placing the data of global users in data centers outside of China. However, with the U.S. government increasingly concerned about cybersecurity, it isn’t likely that carriers will be willing to partner with Chinese companies in the near future.

    Despite these challenges, Xiaomi may prove to be the dark horse in a global competition with Apple, Google, and Samsung, as it continues to dominate in markets like India where highly-priced devices aren’t the consumer’s choice. Focusing on becoming the “People’s Smarthome” of emerging communities around the world may very well be its winning

  • Xiaomi to open the first ever authorized Mi Store in the Philippines

    Xiaomi to open the first ever authorized Mi Store in the Philippines

    The first authorised Philippine Mi Store is set to open on February 17 at Ayala’s TriNoma Mall in Quezon City.

    Chinese electronics and appliances maker Xiaomi will showcase its three new Redmi 5 smartphone models in the first quarter this year: the Redmi 5A, Redmi 5 and the Redmi 5 Plus.

    After the success of Mi Stores in Hong Kong and greater China, Xiaomi plans to open more flagship outlets in Asian cities as it tries to lift its market share, especially in the smartphone sector. The stores also sell small home appliances, like vacuum cleaners, flat screen TVs and computer accessories.

    The company is also planning to expand its network in Thailand by opening a representative office in Bangkok and partnering with local telecom operators and retailers to set up over 190 stores and concessions.

    India and Indonesia are its next two target markets.

  • Samsung to target young market via Samsung Digital Plaza

    Samsung to target young market via Samsung Digital Plaza

    Aiming at a young demographic, the Samsung Digital Plaza has been reimagined for its launch in Yongin City, Korea.

    On the ground floor of a metal-covered three-storey building, the 1255sqm store offers its goods in a context that echoes the home. The electronics giant engaged Seoul architecture practice Betwin Space Design to create the venue’s façade and interior.

    One of the display zones features audio devices by Harman, a company that became a Samsung division early last year. Samsung displays its TVs in a zone designed like a living room complete with sofas.

     

    Aiming at occupiers of single-person flats, the compact premium zone presents special products in a setting that reflects modern living styles in Korea, says Samsung.

    There is also a cafe in the middle of the store.

     

    Photo courtesy: Samsung

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Samsung Malaysia CNY Promo Offers RM600 Discount on the Galaxy S8

    Samsung Malaysia CNY Promo Offers RM600 Discount on the Galaxy S8

    In celebration of Chinese New Year, Samsung Malaysia is offering rather attractive discount on some of its smartphones. These include the Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy J7+, as well as the Galaxy J7 Pro.

    Out of the four smartphones on discount, the Galaxy S8 phones receive the highest amount of discount. Originally retailing at RM3,299 and RM3,699 respectively, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are now going for RM600 less, reducing their retail prices to RM2,699 and RM3,099 respectively.

    Aside from the Galaxy S8 phones, the Galaxy J7+ now retails for RM200 less at RM1,099, while the Galaxy J7 Pro currently goes for RM999, saving you RM100.

    While these deals are pretty good, the Galaxy S8 phones are actually more affordable from certain retailers. The Galaxy S8+, for one, can be purchased for only RM2,999 in Orchid Grey, Coral Blue, and Maple Gold. The smaller Galaxy S8, on the other hand, can be yours for RM2,666 in either Midnight Black or Orchid Grey.

    If you’d like to enjoy this discount from Samsung Malaysia itself, you can do so from its official Lazada store. Note that this promotion will end on 15 February 2018.

    Lees ook:

  • Apple Retail Stores in China to Accept Alipay Mobile Payments

    Apple Retail Stores in China to Accept Alipay Mobile Payments

    Apple China will accept Alipay in its stores – the first third-party mobile payment system to be accepted at any Apple store worldwide.

    This follows lukewarm reception in China for Apple’s own payment system, says Reuters.

    The IT giant will accept Alipay payments across its 41 brick-and-mortar retail stores in China, says Ant Financial, which runs the system for Alibaba.

    Meanwhile, Apple China’s website, iTunes store and App Store have been accepting Alipay for more than a year.

    Apple is shifting user data to China-based servers this month to meet local rules, and last year removed dozens of local and foreign VPN apps from its Chinese app store.

    China’s official Xinhua news agency says Apple will build its second data centre in China, in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, after setting up a data centre in Guizhou.

    Lees ook:

  • Hearables is the next big thing in wearables

    Hearables is the next big thing in wearables

    Specialised fitness wearables integrated into clothing and ear-based “hearables” will grow from an expected 4.5 million shipped this year to nearly 30 million in 2022, according to Juniper Research.

    This is an increase of more than 550 per cent, while by contrast, conventional activity tracker shipments will grow by only 20 per cent in that time.

    Hearables or smart headphones are defined by Wikipedia as “technically advanced, electronic in-ear-devices designed for multiple purposes ranging from wireless transmission to communication objectives, medical monitoring and fitness tracking”.

    In its report Health & Fitness Wearables: Vendor Strategies, Trends & Forecasts 2018-2022, Juniper says that as growth in basic trackers has slowed, session‑specific wearables, such as those monitoring gym or training sessions, have multiplied. Devices from companies like Atlas, Gymwatch, Jabra, Sensoria and Under Armour provide more granular metrics.

    It found that as detailed metrics become widespread among all vendors, lifestyle tracking leaders such as Fitbit and Huami will decline in market share. Combined, these players will account for 28 per cent of total fitness wearable shipments by 2022, down from more than 40 per cent last year.

    Data is now the key battleground for fitness wearables, says the report. Thanks to initiatives like Suunto’s Movesense platform, data will ultimately become device-agnostic. However, because of a lack of consumer interest, Juniper expects fitness software and services revenues to stay under $200 million a year over the next four years.

    Despite the promise of wearables in healthcare, little specialised hardware is available, with fitness wearables being adapted for such purposes. Juniper expects healthcare wearables to make up less than a third of all of the sector’s devices in use by 2022, as regulation slows roll-outs and keeps prices high.

    “Healthcare use has long been the goal of many wearables manufacturers,” says research author James Moar. “However, more research needs to be done on activity tracking in order to make typical wearable data clinically meaningful to healthcare professionals.”

    Lees ook:

  • Apple sales report doesn’t look good

    Apple sales report doesn’t look good

    Apple has been quick to point out the record-breaking revenue numbers for its first quarter.

    The Cupertino-based company reported first-quarter sales of US$88.3 billion and a record quarterly profit for the final three months of last year of $20.1 billion.

    As much as this is praiseworthy, it also masks some more worrying trends.

    First is the 1 per cent fall in unit sales of the iPhone. Although revenue for phones increased by 13 per cent, this was a function of higher prices rather than increased volume. On the surface, this may not seem like a problem, but in our view, it indicates that Apple is, once again, struggling to persuade consumers to upgrade or switch to new devices. This slowing of the upgrade cycle will likely have an impact on phone revenue in future quarters.

    Moreover, the slowdown in iPhone sales is emblematic of Apple’s inability to come up with meaningful and valuable innovations that wow consumers. Even the iPhone X is an incremental product that lacks the excitement and newness earlier models brought to market. Apple is fortunate in having a strong base of fans and many consumers who are bought into its ecosystem of services; but without device innovation, even this may prove insufficient to maintain market share in the face of rising competition.

    Mac sales disappoint

    The second area of disappointment comes from Mac sales where both volume and revenue slipped over the prior year. Admittedly, Apple is up against a comparative from last year when its new MacBooks Pros were gaining ground, but even so, this also underlines a dearth of serious innovation in the home and professional computing segments.

    We also believe that lower volumes, and the fact that Apple’s products were not at the top of everyone’s Christmas lists, put a dampener on service growth. Last quarter this segment grew by 34 per cent and by 22 per cent in the quarter before that. Over this period, the increase was a much more modest 18 per cent. Arguably, the holiday period should be a bumper time for Apple subscriptions; that it wasn’t is concerning – not least because Apple needs income from services to make up for softness in product sales.

    That Apple’s HomePod wasn’t available in time for the holidays was a misstep, not least because it could have helped boost service revenue. Our data show smart speakers and smart home devices were popular gifting and self-purchase items over November and December – with both Amazon and Google growing their market shares. Although Apple will point out its product is superior to rivals’ efforts, it is a latecomer to the party, and we believe its potential sales will be crimped as a result.

    For all of these challenges, Apple remains a solid and financially successful company. Indeed, its profits increased over the period. However, a lack of serious and significant innovation means it runs the risk of diluting future earnings. Apple thrives off serving a mass market; a move to providing more expensive items to fewer people will ultimately prove harmful to the bottom line.

    In essence, we believe that the clear blue water that once existed between Apple and rivals is much diminished. The company has time to reopen the gap, but to do so, it needs to pull something new and unique out of its hat sooner, rather than later.

    -Neil Saunders-

  • Fujifilm to cut 10,000 jobs at subsidiary amid Xerox takeover

    Fujifilm to cut 10,000 jobs at subsidiary amid Xerox takeover

    Japanese technology firm Fujifilm on Wednesday announced 10,000 job cuts by March 2020 at its Fuji Xerox subsidiary, which it said was facing an “increasingly severe” market environment.

    In a major shake-up, Fujifilm also announced it would be combining Fuji Xerox with US giant Xerox, bringing both companies under its umbrella to create what it said was the world’s largest “document solutions company” by revenue.

    As part of a cost-cutting package that it hopes will save 50 billion yen (RM1.793 billion), Fujifilm announced “personnel reductions of 10,000 people domestically and overseas” at Fuji Xerox.

    Founded in 1934, Fujifilm became synonymous with the photography business but has since expanded into cosmetics and medical equipment.

    Fuji Xerox, which manufactures printers and copiers for offices mainly in Asia and the Oceania regions, employs around 46,000 people in total.

    “It is expected that this combination will generate a large number of synergies,” said Fujifilm in a statement, with Fuji Xerox mainly doing business in Japan and Asia and Xerox in the US and Europe.

    Xerox had faced a revolt from two major shareholders, Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason, who between them control 15 percent of the company.

    They recently published a joint letter urging the company to consider selling itself and calling for the immediate replacement of its CEO.

    The restructuring will have an impact on Fujifilm’s operating income, the firm said, revising down its forecasts for the current fiscal year to 130 million yen from 185 million yen.

    Net profit however was forecast to rise to 140 million yen from 125 million yen due to one-off gains from sales of investment securities.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Ericsson rings up huge losses in 2017

    Ericsson rings up huge losses in 2017

    Swedish telecoms giant Ericsson said Wednesday that it rang up huge losses last year as network competition, restructuring costs and investment in lightning-fast 5G technology pushed it deeply into the red.

    The news sent Ericsson’s share price tumbling nearly nine percent on the Stockholm stock exchange in early trading, in a flat market.

    Ericsson said in a statement it booked net loss of 35.1 billion kronor (3.6 billion euros, US$4.4 billion) in 2017, compared with profit of 1.9 billion kronor the year before.

    The group also booked an underlying or operating loss of 38.1 billion kronor last year after profit of 6.3 billion kronor in 2016, while revenues dropped by 10% to 201.3 billion kronor, the statement said.

    “The focus during 2017 has been on reshaping overall strategy and on improving company structure and performance,” explained chief executive Borje Ekholm.

    “2017 was also the year when 5G went from vision to real business opportunities while we at the same time had good traction for our 4G portfolio,” he continued.

    “We are fully committed to our plans and our targets and expect to see tangible results of our turnaround in 2018.”

    Below target

    In the fourth quarter alone, Ericsson’s net loss widened to 18.9 billion kronor from a loss of 1.6 billion kronor a year earlier, while sales slumped by 12% to 57.2 billion kronor.

    “The fourth quarter was in line with our overall expectation, with gradual improving performance in networks and continued significant losses in digital services. The result is however far below our long-term ambition,” CEO Ekholm said.

    Earlier this month, Ericsson had announced that writedowns of 14.2 billion kronor would be booked in the fourth quarter, originating mainly from goodwill from investments made a decade ago.

    Investors fled after the earnings report was published.

    “When I look at the order book there’s not a lot of meat on the bone in there … I’m surprised the (share price) fall is so steep, but it’s an automated-traded share,” Jonas Olavi of Alfred Berg investment bank said.

    “Ericsson needs to turn over every rock in the search for new sources of income,” Mikael Tornwall, telecoms expert for daily Svenska Dagbladet, said.

    Ericsson said it had reduced the number of its employees and external workforce by 10,000 during the fourth quarter, part of its restructuring plan aimed at cost savings of 10 billion kronor by mid-2018.

    Lees ook:

  • Honor Opens its First Flagship Store in Myanmar

    Honor Opens its First Flagship Store in Myanmar

    A flagship store for Honor, a smartphone brand from China’s Huawei Group, has opened in Yangon.

    With its slogan “For the brave”, the brand was created for digital natives and offers internet-optimised products and high specifications at an accessible price level.

    Honor president George Zhao says the Myanmar flagship is a milestone for the brand’s Southeast Asia expansion journey. “Globally, we are confident we will see Honor rise to become a top-five smartphone brand within three years.”

    Four of Honor’s top-rated products feature in the new store: Honor 7X, its first FullView Display smartphone aimed at gamers; Honor V9 Play, a minimalist Scandinavian-style smartphone; Honor 6X, offering budget technology for digital natives; and Honor Holly 6, am affordable high-performance model.

  • Elon Musk has just earned $7.5M for boring out of flamethrowers

    Elon Musk has just earned $7.5M for boring out of flamethrowers

    The Boring Company is getting decently well-capitalized on the back of sales of its flamethrower.

    The no-doubt overpriced piece of knack, which can be made yourself at home using likely around $30 in parts, is selling for $500 and has already netted Elon Musk’s digging venture $7.5 million.

    That’s after just over a day of being on sale, and not counting the revenue from fire extinguisher sales (those sell for just $30, which is itself also overpriced). All told, Musk says he’s sold 15,000 of the flamethrowers thus far, with only a total of 20,000 available in total during the sale.

    Chances are, we are very near the total sell-out of the stock, so if you really want to own this potential piece of transportation history, you would better act fast. Or you could continue living your life, and ignore this particular circus show in favor of paying attention to what will hopefully be the main act: Actually building a network of interconnected underground hyperloops.

    Mr. Musk appeared to suggest the flamethrowers are crucial in case of zombie-linked emergencies. “When the zombie apocalypse happens, you’ll be glad you bought a flamethrower. Works against hordes of the undead or your money back!” he wrote.

    However the flamethrower probably has less to do with zombies than it does to do with Musk’s firm The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnelling enterprise.

    In December 2017, the entrepreneur vowed on Twitter that if he could sell 50,000 of a $20 hat made to raise funds for The Boring Company, he would start selling flamethrowers.

    He appears now to be making good on what people believed was a whimsical promise.

    Founded in December 2016, the Boring Company’s project is to create a network of tunnels underneath major US hubs to relieve traffic congestion and enable rapid intercity travel.

    Musk himself later admitted: “The rumor that I’m secretly creating a zombie apocalypse to generate demand for flamethrowers is completely false.”

    Musk said on Twitter that the flamethrower is “great for roasting nuts”, although it can be safely assumed the flames produced by the flamethrower will set light to a wide array of items.

    The Boring Company is also selling a fire extinguisher alongside the gizmo priced at $30.

  • Vingroup eyes stake in mobile device retailer Vien Thong A

    Vingroup eyes stake in mobile device retailer Vien Thong A

    VinPro, the electronics retail arm of Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup, may invest in mobile device retailer Vien Thong A.

    However, Vien Thong A GM Hoang Ngoc Vy has denied the media reports, before enigmatically adding that further information would be forthcoming.

    VinPro was launched in March 2015 as part of the property giant’s foray into the nation’s US$4.5-billion electronics retail market. It has two brands: VinPro for big stores in Vincom Retail’s shopping malls, and VinPro+ for smaller stores.

    Established in November 1997, Vien Thong A has nearly 200 stores across Vietnam and 100 warranty centres.

    Vietnam’s electronic and electrical appliances market is expected to expand by 11.9 per cent by 2020, according to Boston Consulting Group and consumer information company GFK Vietnam.

    Meanwhile, the market is dominated by FPT Retail and Mobile World, which has just acquired about 95 per cent of Hanoi-based Tran Anh Digital World. Earlier, Thailand’s Central Group bought a 49 per cent stake in electronics retailer Nguyen Kim Trading.

    Lees ook:

  • 35,000 smart phones in Viet Nam infected by GhostTeam virus

    35,000 smart phones in Viet Nam infected by GhostTeam virus

    More than 35,000 smartphones in Việt Nam have been affected by the GhostTeam virus, according to the BKAV Technology Group.

    The virus takes advantage of popular Vietnamese applications in Google Play to spread and steal Facebook passwords.

    Hackers provide applications like flashlights and calendars, which, after installing, automatically download the virus.

    The applications sound a security warning and offers suggestions on what to do, tricking users to click on a harmful link.

    BKAV experts warn that smart phone users should scan their phones and change their Facebook password immediately if they discover the virus.

    Vũ Ngọc Sơn, BKAV Technology Group’s deputy chairman in charge of anti-malware, said: “It is very hard for users to be vigilant against viruses infiltrating through Google Play. In this case, users should use anti-virus software to get automatic protection.”

    Google Play has already deleted harmful Vietnamese applications, but smart phones in which they are already installed face a very high possibility of infection.

     

    Lees ook:

  • Vietnam phone exports to China surge eight-fold

    Vietnam phone exports to China surge eight-fold

    Customs data shows China became the second largest importer of phones and phone parts from Vietnam last year, just behind the European Union with US$11.96 billion, a year-on-year increase of 6.4%.

    Exports of the products to South Korea also rose by a staggering 45.4% year-on-year to US$3.97 billion and shipments to the United Arab Emirates edged up a slight 1.6% to US$3.89 billion.

    The report indicates Vietnam spent US$8.75 billion importing phones and phone parts from China and US$6.18 billion from South Korea last year, up 42.4% and 72.6% from a year earlier.

    Therefore, for these products alone, Vietnam ran respective trade deficits of around US$600 million and US$2.21 billion with China and South Korea.

    Notably, according to the report, China has accounted for around half of phone and phone part exports to Vietnam in recent years.

    Apart from hi-end gadgets of tech giants like Samsung, Apple and HTC, industry watchers said Chinese brands such as Oppo, Huawei, Xiaomi and Vivo have dominated the mid-end and feature-phone market segments.

    Although some major Korean phone producers like Samsung and LG have set up shop in Vietnam, many parts suppliers of these tech firms have yet to come to the country. Therefore, analysts forecast Vietnam will have to continue importing phone parts from the Northeast Asian nation this year.

    Customs data shows Vietnam exported phones and phone parts worth US$45.27 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of 31.9%, while the country saw a 54.8% rise in imports of these products at US$16.34 billion. The products made up over 21% of the country’s export revenue last year.

  • More “green” of Apple store Garosugil

    More “green” of Apple store Garosugil

    Opening in Seoul on Saturday, Apple Garosugil will bring Apple’s products, in-store programming and services together in one place for the first time for South Korean customers.

    In the heart of the Gangnam area, the store features a 7.6m glass facade along a tree-lined street, with interior trees mirroring those outside.

    “Our stores are gathering places for the community where everyone is welcome to connect, learn and create,” says Apple senior VP of retail Angela Ahrendts.

    Today at Apple programming offers free sessions daily to inspire participants to unlock their creativity in photography, music, art and design, coding skills and more. The sessions are held in the heart of the store, the Forum, with its video wall.

    Anyone can attend a 30-minute Quick Start session, then go further with experiential photo walks or attend entrepreneurial sessions. Educators and developers can also receive advice and specialised training in the store’s boardroom.

    Apple’s full line of products and a curated collection of accessories are available in the store. Along each side of the store are Avenues, inspired by window displays along a shopping street, which offer interactive displays for visitors. These feature third-party products and accessories.

    Customers can register for Today at Apple sessions through the Apple Store app, as well as explore products and shop.

    Between them, the store’s 140 team members speak 15 languages.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook: