Oppo beats Samsung for first time to top of Vietnam smartphone market

Sales of the Chinese smartphone brand grew 110% year-on-year as it grabbed a 27% market share, according to market analysis firm Canalys.

It was followed by the South Korean giant with 21%, China’s Xiaomi with 20%, U.S. company Apple with 16%, and another Chinese company Vivo with 6%.

Samsung was the only brand in the top five to post negative growth (minus 24%).

A report by another research company, IDC, also confirmed that Oppo topped the market ahead of Samsung.

The two researchers analyzed "sell-in" data, referring to the number of smartphones delivered by each company to distributors.

Samsung had been leading the market by a considerable margin for many years.

In the first quarter it had a 28% market share followed by Xiaomi with 19%.

In Southeast Asia, Samsung remained in the top spot in the second quarter, followed by Oppo.

The Southeast Asia market as a whole grew 14% year-on-year to 23.9 million units, according to Canalys.

The recovery followed an economic recovery and positive consumer sentiment, its analyst Le Xuan Chiew said.

The premium segment with phones costing over US$600 grew by 18%, led by Samsung which has been focusing on high-end products that incorporate AI capabilities.