Apple Inc has opened a subsidiary company in Viet Nam, allowing the maker of iPhones to import and distribute cellphones directly in one of the fastest growing smartphone markets in the Asia-Pacific.

Apple Vietnam Limited Liability was established on Oct. 28 with a registered capital of 15 billion dong ($672,194), according to a news announcement recorded on Viet Nam's national business registry website seen by Reuters on Thursday.

Two iPhone handsets are seen in this photo illustration. Tuoi Tre

The Ho Chi Minh City-based firm will conduct wholesale businesses of various products including its signature smartphones, provide information technology and maintenance services as well as advising services, the announcement said.

The number of mobile phone subscribers in Viet Nam grew 26 %from 2009 to 2013 to 124 million, while the number of internet users surpassed a third of the country's 90-million population two years ago, latest official data from the information ministry showed.

Viet Nam was Apple Inc's hottest market after sales there tripled in its fiscal first half of last year, a growth rate five times faster than in India.

(Source: tuoitrenews)