Apple to launch online store in Vietnam next week

Apple will launch an online store in Vietnam on May 18, offering a full range of Apple products and direct Vietnamese support for customers nationwide, the tech giant announced on Friday.

The online Apple Store will provide customers with exceptional service and personalized support similar to other Apple Store locations around the world. It will have a team of experts available to share their expertise in Vietnamese to support customers.

With the online store, customers in Vietnam can now connect with experienced experts, and experience more of Apple's essence than ever before, said Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's senior vice president of Retail + People.

The online Apple Store delivers a seamless shopping experience for Apple products in both Vietnamese and English.

For fiscal year 2023's second quarter which ended April 1, Apple posted a quarterly revenue of $94.8 billion, down 3% year-on-year, according to the tech giant.

Currently, Apple products in Vietnam are delivered to Apple Authorized Resellers (AARs) by four major firms - Viettel, FPT Retail, Digiworld, and Petrosetco.

The iPhone is among the most popular smartphones in Vietnam. Vietnam spent $3.5 billion on importing smartphones in 2022, with iPhones accounting for the biggest portion of $1.61 billion, or 46.05% of the total, the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported. Total import expenditure on smartphones rose 10.5% year-on-year, while that of Apple's iPhones surged 30.58%.

However, in terms of market share, as of the end of 2022, Samsung topped the list with 40.4% of the market share, according to market researcher International Data Corporation. Other top brands were OPPO and Apple with 21.3% each, Vivo with 6.3%, and Xiaomi with 5.4%