Apple market share plunges to year’s lowest level in Vietnam

This kept its iPhone in fourth place, behind Xiaomi, which had a 10.7 percent share, according to a report by market research firm GfK.

Samsung remained on top (40.7 percent) followed by Oppo (24 percent). Vivo was in fifth place (5.4 percent), selling 1.07 million phones. 

Xiaomi, which held fourth place in June, saw consistent growth since then to climb into third place in July, where it has remained. 

This was the third straight month of fall in market share for Apple, which was down 1.6 percentage points from June and 2.4 percentage points from January.

Industry insiders said the Vietnamese tendency to wait for the upcoming iPhone model, set to be released in early November, is the reason for the falling sales, besides intense competition from Samsung and Oppo with their new products and promotions. 

On Wednesday major smartphone seller Mobile World said 10,689 people have put down deposits of VND1 million ($43.25) to prebook the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro or iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Another smartphone retailer, FPT Shop, has received 16,390 bookings. 

The two authorized Apple resellers are scheduled to deliver the phones on November 11.

In the first nine months Samsung and Oppo had market shares of 39.6 percent and 28.7 percent respectively followed by Apple (7 percent) and Xiaomi (5.9 percent), according to the report.

A report released in January by We Are Social, a social media marketing and advertising agency, said around 75 million people in Vietnam, or almost 80 percent of its population, use smartphones.