Vietnamese spend a quarter of time on mobile phones playing games: report

The 23 percent of time spent playing games is the highest proportion, while more than 18 percent is spent on social media, according to a report by Appota, a developer and provider of Vietnamese digital entertainment platforms

Of the 51 million mobile users in Vietnam, 33 million are mobile gamers. This number is predicted to reach 40 million by 2020, the report said.

The rise of game-streaming can be attributed to the explosive growth of eSports, which is an organized competition involving video games. By 2018, Vietnam had 15 million eSport players, accounting for 45 percent of mobile game players, as well as 5.2 million people who regularly watch eSports streams.

Live game streams are a "great method for brands to get into the minds of young consumers", as Vietnamese users are drawn to engaging game battles and entertaining comments, and can watch game-streamers for hours on platforms like Facebook, YouTube or NimoTV, the Appota report noted.

In addition, given the strong willingness of Vietnamese people to try out new apps and games, Vietnam is currently one of 10 countries with the highest installs of apps/games in the world. This is not only a great opportunity for developers, but also provides a large area of exposure for advertisers, it said. 

"In particular, the Vietnamese are especially willing to watch short video ads in exchange for rewards from apps or games."

In 2018, digital advertising value in Vietnam reached $663 million, with mobile advertising accounted for more than 62 percent of this revenue. Appota predicts that digital advertising will continue to grow and reach over $1 billion in 2020, 80 percent of which will come from mobile advertising.