As Vietnamese telecom providers rush to launch their fourth generation (4G) services, the market for duly geared smart phones has also been heating up.

A smartphone supports the 4G connection. (Photo: www.dienmayxanh.com)

The Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) last month confirmed that LTE (Long Term Evolution, a 4G wireless communication standard) subscriptions accounted for 25.1% of all mobile subscriptions globally.

There were 818 million new LTE subscriptions in 2016, compared to 596 million in 2015. LTE and WCDMA are now the only mobile technologies that are growing in subscriptions, although WCDMA subscriptions are experiencing slowing growth, the GSA said.

Another report from Informa has also forecast that the number of 4G users in the world would reach a billion this year.

The 4G technology has also established a new smart phone trend.

Big producers such as Samsung, Apple, Sony, HTC and Asus have introduced 4G smart phones in Viet Nam.

According to The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World) - one of the largest mobile phone and electronic product distribution chains in Viet Nam, 90 of 150 authorised smart phones sold in the country support the 4G connection, three times that of last year.

Samsung seems to be the leading producer of 4G smart phones in the local market. With the experience of providing 4G phones in South Korea as well as other big and demanding markets like the US, Europe and India since 2010, the company has a huge advantage over others.

As of now, the 4G technology has been integrated into 17 of 27 Samsung Galaxy smart phones in diverse market segments.

Mr Le Khoi Nguyen, Viet Nam Mobile Business Manager at Samsung Electronics, told “Almost all Samsung smart phones, from high-end to the most popular models, have been equipped with 4G technology.  For example, the Samsung J2 smart phone supports 4G technology at less than VNĐ2.7 million (US$120). Samsung aims to have its smart phone products with 4G accessible to middle and even low-income earners."

Nguyen said Samsung has also signed some co-operation contracts with Viettel to support 4G users in terms of products, pricing and technical support.

Samsung has really invested in the 4G smart phone with a smart phone costing less than VNĐ3 million, while its rivals support 4G in the middle market segment of 7-8 million VND each.

Dang Quoc Cuong, Marketing Director of Oppo Viet Nam, said they have brought 4G smart phones to Viet Nam and stopped importing 2G and 3G smart phones.

Cuong believed that the coverage of 4G smart phones in Viet Nam will increase rapidly and catch up quickly with modern countries in the world.

Customers will soon consider 4G an indispensable criterion for their decision to buy a smart phone, he added.

(Source: VNS)