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Tag: Vietnam

  • Vietnam told to boost halal food exports

    Vietnam told to boost halal food exports

    Countries with large Muslim populations have called on Vietnam to produce and export halal products amid increasing demand for them.

    “The halal food industry is a billion-dollar opportunity for which we can cooperate and develop,” Agustaviano Sofjan, Indonesia’s consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, said at a forum titled “Cooperation and Development of Halal industry in ASEAN” held in the city on Monday.

    With the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia has a halal market of US$180 billion, and it is expected to skyrocket to $281 billion by 2025.

    Malaysia also has big demand for halal products.

    Rosmizah Binti Mat Jusoh, commercial consul at the Malaysian consulate general in the city, said Vietnam is still new to the halal industry and needs to create an ecosystem for it, and Malaysia could help it through the certification process step by step.

    Singapore also has big demand for halal items though Muslims only make up 14% of its population.

    Jason Yeo, vice president of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said his country receives millions of tourists every year from the Middle East and Central Asia. “This makes halal certification extremely important for companies operating in Singapore and our partners across the region and the world.”

    The Singapore halal market is expected to grow by 8-10% in the next few years, he said.

    At the forum, Cao Thi Phi Van, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Trade Promotion Center, said countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia have expressed a desire to collaborate with Vietnam in investing and developing the halal industry.

    The global halal economy is worth US$7 trillion and expected to reach $10 trillion before 2028.
    The Southeast Asian market alone is worth $230 billion, but Vietnam’s exports of halal products remain minuscule.

    Vietnam is among the world’s top 20 exporters, but is nowhere in the list of halal food suppliers.

    According to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, the country’s total trade with Muslim countries in the ASEAN region stood at $26.37 billion in the first nine months of this year.

    Van said Vietnam has the potential to do well in the regional and global halal markets because of its agricultural and fishery strengths, close proximity to major halal markets and many free trade agreements.

    But it only exports around 20 products to halal markets, and 40% of its cities and provinces do not produce halal-certified items for export.

    Ly Kim Chi, chairwoman of the Food and Foodstuff Association of Ho Chi Minh City, said on average 50 businesses get their products, mainly seafood, beverages and confectionery, halal-certified every year.

    Tee Ramlan, director of the Vietnam Halal Center, said there are around 70 economies to which Vietnam can export halal products. “Thailand and Taiwan already export many halal products, so why doesn’t Vietnam?”

    He said the first step is to develop highly skilled human resources for the halal industry.

    Van proposed increasing links between HCMC and its neighboring provinces to raise awareness of halal products and form a closed supply chain for them extending to exports.

    Recently the Ministries of Science and Technology and Industry and Trade developed four national standards for halal.

    In February, the Government had unveiled a scheme for strengthening international cooperation to develop Vietnam’s halal industry for until 2030.

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  • Domestic rice prices reach new peak

    Domestic rice prices reach new peak

    Vietnam’s domestic rice prices have surged to a new record amid rising export demand while authorities ensure there is no supply shortage for consumers.

    Rice seller Thanh in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh District said that he has recently sourced price the popular Dai Thom rice from manufacturers at VND21,000 ($0.85) per kilogram, up 5% from last month and 16% year-on-year to a new record.

    Other types rose 7% from a month ago, he added.

    In Go Vap District, rice shop owner Hoa said prices had risen 12% from last month for certain brands.

    “Manufacturers say that prices will continue to rise as they have already placed orders at farmers who demanded higher prices,” he said.

    Supermarkets are also selling at prices 5-10% higher year-on-year.

    WinMart has raised prices on most of its rice, while Central Retail said that it has yet to adjust retail prices, to support consumers, even though suppliers have raised prices by 10%. Saigon Co.op is considering raising prices.

    Businesses that use a lot of rice are feeling the heat. Hoang Oanh, owner of a rice noodles manufacturer in HCMC, said that she had to reduce production to minimize risks of losses as rice prices have surged recently.

    Dinh Ngoc Tam, deputy CEO of rice exporter Co May, attributed the price rise to surging global demand.

    As India’s ban on some rice variety exports remains, the world is seeing a 40% drop in supply from the country, while other countries such as Indonesia, China and the Philippines still have high demands.

    Indonesian businesses are willing to buy from Vietnamese exporters at up to $650 per ton, a record high, according to data from exporters.

    There is no concern about domestic supply, but as traders are competing and paying more to ensure they can fulfil export orders, prices are rising, Tam said.

    Other industry insiders say that Chinese importers are buying more to ensure supply for their Lunar New Year holiday next year, which pushed up prices.

    Nguyen Nhu Cuong, head of the Department of Horticulture under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that there was no concern about a shortage in the domestic rice market.

    The rice crop area has increased by 30,000 hectares year-on-year, he added.

    In the first season of next year, yield is set to rise from 2022 to reach 20 million tons of paddy as farmers’ techniques are improved, he said.

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  • Hanoi Railway Transport reports record profit

    Hanoi Railway Transport reports record profit

    The Hanoi Railway Transport Joint Stock Company has reported record after-tax profits of VND54 billion (US$2.2 million) mainly due to a nonrecurring revenue item, interest in bank deposits.

    It received interest of VND245 billion on deposits, but also managed to trim expenses, according to its latest financial statements. Gross profit rose 40% year-on-year to VND110 billion. However, total revenues were down 5% to VND637 billion.

    The company has improved its profits for three consecutive quarters, but still has accumulated losses of VND285 billion after 11 quarters of losses during the Covid pandemic.

    For the year to date it had revenues of VND1.895 trillion and profits of VND98 billion, the former only slightly up year-on-year but the latter surging 2.8-fold.

    This year the company is promoting cargo transportation and joining hands with major travel agencies to transport foreign tourists.

    The company, one of the two biggest subsidiaries of the Vietnam Railways Corporation, operates northern and the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City routes and international transportation of goods and passengers through two northern border gates.

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  • Pomelo exports soar as New Zealand, US start buying

    Pomelo exports soar as New Zealand, US start buying

    Pomelo exports have surged this year after shipments to the U.S. and New Zealand began, with the figure for the first eight months standing at US$29.6 million. It represented a 144% year-on-year increase.

    Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Fruit and Vegetable Association, said pomelos, previously exported only to the EU and the Middle East, have been shipped to the U.S. and New Zealand since the end of 2022.

    With the quality of Vietnam’s green-skin pomelo improving rapidly, it is becoming popular in many countries, he said.

    Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Export Import Service Trading Company, which accounts for 60% of all fruits and vegetables exported to the U.S., said Vietnamese pomelos face competition from China and Mexico, but are gaining a stronger foothold in the market.

    In the U.S. market, Vietnamese pomelo is sold at $9 per kilogram and Chinese varieties at only $2, but the former has won over more and more consumers due to its quality, he said.

    “This is the first year my company exports pomelos to the U.S., but volumes have increased sharply each quarter. In the first three months of this year we exported four 40-foot containers a month, now we export 16.”

    Fresh pomelo is the seventh fruit after mango, longan, lychee, dragon fruit, rambutan, and star apple that Vietnam exports to the U.S.

    The Plant Protection Department said pomelo is exported to 12 countries and territories.

    Vietnam has 105,400 hectares under the fruit and an annual output of 905,000 tons.

    Most of the green-skin pomelo is grown in the Mekong Delta.

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  • Vietnam eyes stronger cooperation with US

    Vietnam eyes stronger cooperation with US

    Vietnam and the U.S. should further promote the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership more effectively and substantively, focusing on economic cooperation, said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

    The PM made the statement at a reception in Hanoi on Wednesday for Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of State Emily Blanchard, who is on a working visit to Vietnam.

    The two sides reviewed outstanding achievements in the bilateral ties, agreeing that the Vietnam – U.S. relationship has witnessed comprehensive, stable and substantive developments, bringing practical benefits to both countries and contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

    They emphasized the significance of the upgrading of the Vietnam – U.S. relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in September, saying that this will bring opportunities and practical benefits to both countries.

    PM Chinh suggested the U.S. side continue cooperation with Vietnam in energy transition, climate change response, tourism and people-to-people exchange, handling of post-war consequences, and enhancement of national governance capacity, and increase scholarships to Vietnamese students.

    He highly valued the U.S. government’s decision to consider recognizing Vietnam’s market economy status, urging the U.S. side to complete this process soon.

    The two sides need to continue efforts to promote connection between their economies, promote harmonious and sustainable trade exchange, and facilitate investment cooperation between the two sides’ businesses, he said.

    The PM proposed the U.S. continue to open the market to Vietnamese goods such as textiles, footwear, and electronics, and limit anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax measures and other unnecessary measures on Vietnamese exports, especially farm produce, wooden products and items that directly impact jobs and livelihoods of people.

    He affirmed that the Vietnamese Government will always accompany, support, and create an open, transparent, safe, and healthy business and investment climate for U.S. businesses to operate effectively in the country.

    Blanchard agreed with the PM’s proposal on the need to concretize and effectively implement the new relationship framework between the two countries, especially promoting the above-mentioned key areas.

    She highly valued of Vietnam’s outstanding achievements in economic growth, macroeconomic management, and inflation control, expressing her belief that with the increasingly improved investment and business environment in Vietnam, the country will attract more U.S. investors in the time to come.

    There remains room for the two sides to expand cooperation further, she said, promising to continue to contribute to promoting and deepening the Vietnam-U.S. relations.

    The U.S. is willing to share its experience in economic policy as well as how to coordinate to respond to fluctuations in the global economy effectively, she stated.

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  • Vietravel Airlines appoints new CEO

    Vietravel Airlines appoints new CEO

    Nguyen Minh Hai, who was the CEO of Bamboo Airways for two months earlier this year, has been appointed new CEO of Vietravel Airlines.

    He replaced Vu Duc Bien, who has been running the company since its foundation in 2020. Bien quit for personal reasons.

    Hai has 25 years of experience in the aviation industry. He was previously deputy CEO of Vietnam Airlines and CEO of Cambodia’s Angkor Air.

    Hai was appointed CEO of Bamboo Airways in May and was expected to bring the company to profitability, but he quit in July.

    He is set to face difficulties managing Vietravel Airlines, which has been struggling to expand since its maiden flight early in 2021.

    Its fleet size is limited at four jets and its routes are few. The company is still looking for a strategic investor to quickly expand.

    The airline recently appointed former German vice-chancellor Philipp Rösler as a director to help expand its international network.

    It plans to issue shares to increase its charter capital from VND1.3 trillion (US$52.88 million) to VND2 trillion in the near future and to enlarge its fleet and expand its routes.

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  • Shrimp exports to US surge in September

    Shrimp exports to US surge in September

    Shrimp exports to the U.S. in September increased 23% compared to the same period last year, marking the third consecutive month of positive growth.

    The 23% growth in September was also the highest compared to the previous two months, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).

    However, in the nine months of 2023, shrimp exports to the U.S. reached $520 million, down 23% compared to the same period.

    The bigger export is due to higher consumption in the U.S. market. The International Monetary Fund raised its U.S. growth projection for this year by 0.3 percentage points, compared with its July update, to 2.1%. It hiked next year’s forecast by 0.5 percentage points, to 1.5%, according to CNBC.

    Vietnam’s shrimp exports to all markets reached $2.5 billion in the first nine months of this year, down 26% from 2022.

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  • Vietnam rice export price climbs amid thin supply

    Vietnam rice export price climbs amid thin supply

    Vietnam’s rice price continues to rise as the harvest season ends, creating a shortage of supply.

    Vietnam’s 5% broken rice is now at $623 per ton, 7% higher than that of Thailand and 10.7% higher than that of Pakistan.

    The domestic paddy price has also been rising to unprecedented levels. Japanese paddy J02 is now priced at up to VND14,000 ($0.57) and Khang Dan VND9,000, which have never been recorded before.

    Traders have been buying in large orders amid a decline in supply as the season ends, and this is why paddy prices are high, farmers said.

    Huynh Thi Bich Huyen, CEO of rice trading company Ngoc Quang Phat, said that she can only buy several hundred tons of paddy each day, which is one-third of last month.

    This shows a shortage in supply and that is why prices are hiked, she added.

    Rice exports surged 40.4% year-on-year to $3.66 billion in the first nine months of this year. It is forecast to reach a new peak of $4 billion by the end of the year.

    The average export price was $553 per ton in the first nine months, up 14% year-on-year.
    Farmers have seen their profits double from last year.

    The Vietnam Food Association forecast that rice prices will stay at a high level in the remaining months as supply will still be low globally.

    Countries such as Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Turkey and Chile have all upped their imports.

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  • Vietnamese lobsters half price as Chinese orders dwindle

    Vietnamese lobsters half price as Chinese orders dwindle

    Diminishing exports to China’s massive market has Vietnamese ornate rock lobsters selling for VND1-1.3 million (US$42-54) a kilogram, half the price of two months ago.

    According to lobster harvesters in the central province of Khanh Hoa, prices are at the lowest point in two years.

    China is the biggest importer of Vietnamese lobsters.

    Lobster vendors in the province said they have decided to stop selling their lobsters or now in hopes prices will spike for the Lunar New Year early next year.

    Seafood shops in Ho Chi Minh City are selling ornate rock lobsters for VND1.4-1.7 million per kilogram.

    Tuan, a lobster trader, said domestic and overseas demand for seafood is down.

    “China currently favors painted spiny lobsters because their prices are lower.”

    Nguyen An, people’s committee chairman of Cam Binh Commune in the south-central-coastal province of Cam Ranh, said that Vietnam has mainly exported painted spiny lobsters to the Chinese market since mid-year, not ornate rock lobsters.

    He said this was because Australian ornate rock lobsters are cheaper than Vietnam’s, “so it is difficult to compete in China.”

    According to the Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, Vietnam exported lobsters worth a total $76 million to China in the first eight months, a year-on-year decline of 42%.

    While reducing imports from Vietnam, China is now buying more lobsters from Canada, Australia, the U.S., New Zealand, Cuba, India, Brazil, and Mexico.

    According to Vietnamese firms, the two countries should agree on official lobster quotas to boost lobster exports to China.

    A project launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development aims to develop Vietnamese lobster production and exports by 2025, with total output of 3,000 tons per year and annual export turnovers of $200 million.

    The largest lobster farming provinces are Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, in the north-central regions, and Kien Giang in the southern region’s Mekong Delta.

     

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  • Catfish exports to China plummet

    Catfish exports to China plummet

    Pangasius exports to China in the first eight months of this year fell 28%to US$406 million, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers.

    Since September Chinese demand for the fish has not increased much even as it has stepped up imports from Norway, South Korea, Australia, and Chile.

    The director of a pangasius export company in southern An Giang Province said that demand from Chinese hotels and restaurants for catfish is low now.

    Chinese consumers prefer fresh seafood over frozen products.

    Besides difficulties in exporting, Vietnamese pangasius firms are also facing high input and farming costs.

    According to data from catfish exporters, farmers’ production costs are now VND26,500-27,000 (over US$1.1) per kilogram while their selling price is VND300-500 lower.

    The average export price is $2.5-2.6 per kilogram, down from $3.2 a year ago.

    “We are trying to sustain production, but this year profits have dropped sharply,” the export company director said.

    According to VASEP, demand for Vietnamese pangasius will increase again in the fourth quarter, the peak season in China.

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  • Novotel Saigon Centre Hotel owner reports biggest ever loss

    Novotel Saigon Centre Hotel owner reports biggest ever loss

    Thien Phuc International Hotel Company, which owns the four-star Novotel Saigon Centre Hotel in HCMC, has reported its biggest ever half-yearly loss of VND369.6 billion (US$15.4 million).

    The loss for the year’s first half was 50% higher year-on-year, according to its earnings report.

    It had racked up full-year losses of VND786 billion in 2021 and VND783 billion in 2022.

    At the end of H1 2023 Thien Phuc had total liabilities of VND8.695 trillion, including VND6.4 trillion in corporate bonds it had issued.Thien Phuc used to belong to Que Huong Liberty Corporation, one of the largest hotel operators in the city.

    In 2016, Que Huong Liberty sold its entire holding in Thien Phuc to Saigon Green View Investment Corporation.

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  • Vietnamese billionaire’s taxi firm to expand to Laos

    Vietnamese billionaire’s taxi firm to expand to Laos

    GSM, an exclusively all-electric taxi company owned by Vietnam’s richest man Pham Nhat Vuong, plans to open services in Laos this year.

    The company, which uses only VinFast electric vehicles, aims to ship 150 electric cars to Laos first, and then increase the number to 1,000 by the end of the year. The cars will be the VF 5 Plus and VF e34 models.

    It will eventually sell and lease VinFast electric cars, similar to its services in Vietnam.

    “This is the first step in GSM’s plan to go overseas, giving it a place in the regional and global markets, is to help introduce electric vehicles to users,” GSM CEO Nguyen Van Thanh wrote on his personal social media page.

    GSM was established in March by Vingroup chairman Pham Nhat Vuong, who owns a 95% stake. It offers taxi and motorbike ride-hailing services.

    The company has partnered with ride-hailing Be Group to incorporate VinFast vehicles in the taxi service.

    GSM is the largest buyer of VinFast cars, according to a report VinFast sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the second quarter.

    GSM had received 7,100 electric cars from VinFast by the end of the second quarter. It had earlier signed a deal with VinFast to buy 200,000 electric bikes and 30,000 electric cars.

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  • Vietnamese fruit faces tougher competition in China

    Vietnamese fruit faces tougher competition in China

    Vietnam exported less fruit to China as the northern neighbor increased dragon fruit cultivation and allowed official import of passion fruit from Laos and longan from Cambodia.

    Data from Vietnam Customs showed dragon fruit exports to China totaled US$442 million, posting a year-on-year decrease of 4.4%. Specifically, red-fleshed dragon fruit exports fell by 38%.

    Currently, China’s dragon fruit output exceeds Vietnam’s, and its selling price is lower than that of the Vietnamese fruit.

    Passion fruit exports from Vietnam to China dropped 36.5% to $29.5 million.

    Vietnamese fresh passion fruit used to have the leading market share. Recently China has reduced import of the Vietnamese passion fruit because it has grown the fruit, and allowed Laos to export the fruit to the market on official quota since 2022.

    The Chinese agricultural product export news site Produce Report cited data from China Customs showing the country annually supplies 600,000 tons of passion fruit to the market.

    With longan, Vietnam’s annual output of over half a million tons is oversupplied and continuously sold at cheap prices as China has new suppliers from Cambodia.

    Cambodia has exported longan to China on official quota since late 2022. Data from the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture showed their fresh longan exports to China in the first eight months of the year surpassed 8,100 tons, including 3,250 tons in August alone.

    Vietnam is the 7th largest coconut-producing country in the world, but it has not been allowed to export the fruit to China on official quota.

    Cambodia, a country outside the top 10 with only 17,000 hectares of coconut, and an output of 248,000 tons in 2022, has exported fresh coconuts to China on official quota since September.

    Vietnam’s avocado, mango, and jackfruit are also at risk of competing with other countries for the Chinese market.

    Recently, Venezuela, the 15th biggest avocado producer in the world, was allowed to export the fruit to China on official quota. Meanwhile, Vietnam still has to export avocado to China on unofficial quota at low output values via under the table border trade.

    Malaysia has recently been approved jackfruit exports on official quota to China, just like Thailand and Vietnam.

    The director of a fruit export business in the Mekong Delta province of Long An predicted that the market share and selling prices of Vietnamese dragon fruit, passion fruit, and longan in China will continue to decrease sharply.

    Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said Vietnam should re-plan dragon fruit and passion fruit growing areas to control quality and output of the two fruits.

    The country should facilitate negotiations with China to have avocado exported on official quota, and export the fruit to other markets such as Japan, South Korea, and the U.S., he said.

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  • China grows more dragon fruit, reduces imports from Vietnam

    China grows more dragon fruit, reduces imports from Vietnam

    China is expanding the cultivation of red-fleshed dragon fruit, which sells at lower prices than imports from Vietnam.

    Last year, it said it grew the fruit on 67,000 hectares and produced 1.6 million tons, which exceeded Vietnam’s output.

    The People’s Daily newspaper reported that farmers in Cixi in Zhejiang Province in eastern China worked all night to pollinate dragon fruit, ensuring a bumper crop artificially.

    Chinese news site Produce Report said July-August is the peak season for the fruit, and in Guangxi, the largest producer in the country, dragon fruit prices have dropped to record lows.

    Red-fleshed dragon fruit is selling at some seven renminbi (nearly US$1) per kilogram and white-fleshed dragon fruit imported from Vietnam at around nine renminbi in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi.

    The local produce has also flooded markets in other Chinese localities, and mostly costs less than the Vietnamese imports.

    With the jump in domestic production, imports from Vietnam are falling.

    According to data from China Customs, 206,000 tons had been imported in the first half of this year, mostly from Vietnam, for 1.37 billion renminbi ($187 million), a year-on-year decrease of 50.4% and 42.9% and the lowest levels in nearly a decade.

    In August, Vietnam’s dragon fruit exports were down 20.5% year-on-year and 34% from July to $40.6 million. Exports in the first eight months declined 4.4% year-on-year to $442 million. In the first eight months, red-fleshed dragon fruit exports to China dropped by 36.5%.

    The director of a dragon fruit export company in the central Binh Thuan Province said while dragon fruit has always been a key export item with annual shipments exceeding $1 billion, they have been sluggish this year.

    Nguyen Dinh Tung, general director of Vina T&T Export-Import Service Trading Company, said exporting dragon fruit to China is not as lucrative as before. The U.S., Canada and Mexico have also started growing the fruit, causing Vietnam’s exports to them to shrink.

    Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said the dragon fruit supply chain faces two challenges.

    Farmers overuse pesticides, whose residues exceed prescribed levels and fail to not meet food safety regulations in some countries, he said.

    After harvest, the fruit needs to be preserved properly to ensure quality, but Vietnam has limited technology for this, and could only preserve it for less than 60 days, making exports by sea to distant countries difficult, he said.

    Businesses need to persuade research institutions to create better preservation technologies, he added.

    Experts have called on authorities in dragon fruit-growing areas not to expand the area under the fruit, but to replace existing plants to improve productivity and quality.

    “Bedsides, processing facilities need to research into using dragon fruit in cosmetic products such as facial masks and skin creams for both domestic consumption and export like South American countries have done,” Nguyen said.

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  • iPhone 15 sales top $42M on opening day

    iPhone 15 sales top $42M on opening day

    Sales of the newly released iPhone model surpassed the VND1-trillion (US$42 million) mark for a second year in a row, despite the economic downturn.

    The iPhone 15 came to Vietnam on Sept. 29, the first time the country was included in Apple’s second round of sales a week after starting in markets like the U.S., India, Singapore, Japan, and Thailand.

    Most Vietnamese retailers said sales were “much better than expected” in what has been a gloomy year for the phone market.

    The Gioi Di Dong sold more than 15,000 for worth VND500 billion, accounting for nearly 50% of the market.

    Other retailers such as FPT Shop, CellPhoneS, ShopDunk, and Hoang Ha Mobile reported sales of 2,000-7,000 each.

    In all, according to statistics from an importer, on Sept. 29 alone, 35,000 iPhone 15s worth more than VND1 trillion were delivered to customers. The phones were sold out within hours.

    FPT Shop did not disclose revenues for the full day, but merely said over 5,000 devices worth VND150 billion were delivered just after midnight.

    CellphoneS delivered 1,500 phones in the first two hours.

    The most popular variant, also the most expensive, has been the Pro Max, which accounted for 50-70% of sales.

    But their sales were 10-20% from last year due to the smaller supply but also because consumers have started to pay more attention to the two regular versions with their eye-catching colors and nearly similar features, according to a CellPhoneS executive.

    Most retailers sold out the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max in natural titanium color.

    Users only have a choice between blue and black for the 1 TB version. Meanwhile, the 15 and 15 Plus had better sales than their predecessors though the most popular color, pink, is also in short supply.

    Overall, sales on the first day were lower than last year, when the iPhone 14 fetched VND1.5 trillion.

    A Hoang Ha Mobile executive said the number of devices allocated to the country by Apple was not as high as last year.

    The color options were also low, leading to the most popular models soon selling out, he said.

    Retailers still have iPhone 15 devices in stock, mostly the regular versions and less popular colors like black.