Apple will launch its first online store in Vietnam next
week, the company said Friday, hoping to cash in on the country’s young and
tech-savvy population.
The iPhone maker is among a host of global tech giants
including Intel, Samsung and LG, that have chosen Vietnam for assembly of their
products.
But up to now, the Silicon Valley giant has sold its
products in Vietnam’s market of 100 million people via authorised resellers.
“We’re honoured to be expanding in Vietnam,” said Deirdre
O’Brien, Apple‘s senior vice president of retail in an online statement in
Vietnamese.
The country’s communist government says it wants 85 percent
of its adult population to have access to a smartphone by 2025, up from the
current 73 percent.
Less than a third of the country’s mobile users have an
iPhone, according to market research platform Statista.
Through online stores, “clients in Vietnam can discover
products and connect with our experienced experts,” O’Brien said in the
statement.
The production of accessories and assembly of mobile phones
account for up to 70 percent of electronics manufacturing in Vietnam. Products
are mainly for export.
Official figures said Vietnam’s mobile phone production
industry reported an import-export turnover of US$114 billion last year, a
third of the country’s total import-export revenue.
Source : Insider Paper
