Vietnamese consumers bought more smartphones than feature phones in the second quarter of 2015, market research firm IDC said.

Smartphone sales thus beat feature phone turnover for the first time in Viet Nam, with a market share of 51%, compared to 44.5% in the previous quarter.

Feature phones are handsets that incorporate such features as the ability to access the Internet and store and play music, but lack the advanced functionality of a smartphone.

A man tests out smartphones at a mobile phone store in Ho Chi Minh City. Tuoi Tre

Viet Nam imported 6.5 million mobile phones in the second quarter, 500,000 devices fewer than the preceding 3 months, according to IDC.

These included 3.3 million smartphones, worth US$607 million.

Samsung held the biggest market share, 30%, followed by Microsoft (13%) and Asus (14%).

Smartphone price in the second quarter averaged $183 a handset, down 26% quarter-on-quarter, which could explain the rise of sales as the devices have become more affordable.

(Source: tuoitrenews)