VN imports 1.6m computers in 2009

The country last year imported an estimated 1.6 million computers of all kinds, up 35 per cent over the previous year, according to marketing director of Intel Viet Nam Pham An Duong.

Duong said that computer prices last year were about 10 per cent lower than those in 2008, meaning PCs and laptops cost roughly US$350 and $620 per unit on average.

Domestic demand for high-speed microprocessors kept rising. Core microprocessors, for example, accounted for 29 per cent of Intel’s total microprocessors sold last year. The figure for AMD’s Athlon II X2 was 50 per cent.

Duong expected that Intel’s Core would increase its market share to 40 per cent this year thanks to the recent introduction of Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 products.

Currently, Intel holds about 92 per cent of the country’s total microprocessor market share. The remainder belongs to AMD, according to Duong.

Local customers are also tending to pay more for their PCs with LCD screens. According to GfK Viet Nam’s statistics, the country in the first 11 months of the year imported nearly 716,000 LCD screens for PCs worth VND2.4 trillion, of which 19-inch screens made up 45.7 per cent.

Accounting for 45 per cent of the country’s LCD screen total sales, HCM City was the largest market for the product last year. Ha Noi followed with 35 per cent.

Duong estimated that laptops accounted for roughly 34 per cent of total computers sold last year, totalling roughly VND6.3 trillion ($350 million), up 28 per cent over 2008.

Retailers said that 14-inch laptops were best-sellers thanks to their reasonable prices.

GfK’s statistics also reported that 14-15 inch laptops accounted for roughly 76 per cent of total laptops sold in the second half of last year.

Despite the improvement in speeds, screens and prices, sales of netbooks last year remained insignificant as the product has remained unpopular with local consumers.

Thieu Phuong Nam, business director of Intel Viet Nam and Indochina, forecast construction that Viet Nam’s computer market in 2010 would increase 20-25 per cent over last year, adding that the domestic market had high potential as the growth rates of all kinds of computers in the market ranked second behind Indonesia in the Asia-Pacific region. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam computer imports, Vietnam technology