iPhone 15 expected to hit Vietnam street in Sep

Apple may sell its new iPhone 15 in Vietnam in September, a month earlier than seen last year for iPhone 14 as the tech giant considers adjusting this market’s “priority level” from three to two.

Apple is weighing this priority level change as Apple Store was launched in the Vietnamese market on May 18, and the American giant launched its payment service Apple Pay in the country on August 8.

Priority level two means Vietnam retailers could be authorized to sell the new iPhone 15 in its second phase of release in September, according to a domestic electronics retail chain's representative. The source wanted not to be named as the person was not authorized to speak.

“The final decision has not been made yet,” the source said.

In Southeast Asia, the markets of Singapore and Thailand hold priority level one. Vietnam, home to around 100 million people, ranks second in the region after Indonesia in terms of population.

Last year, iPhone 14 was launched on September 7 and sold from September 16 in markets with Apple Store shops. The second phase started on September 23 in 20 countries and territories. The smartphone was officially distributed in Vietnam from October 14 in the third phase.

This year, the launch date of the iPhone 15 with four models is likely to be September 13 and the new product will be on sale from September 22, according to Bloomberg. These timelines are about one week later than the iPhone 14’s schedule last year, but the sale to second-tier priority markets could still be as early as September.

Some Vietnamese electronics retail chains had earlier said that Apple already wanted to push up the Vietnamese market’s priority level, but thin iPhone 15 supplies may delay the Vietnam release to the third phase.

Market observers are of the view that Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and India are becoming more important to Apple as growth in other key markets is slowing down.

For Apple’s coming September launching, the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 models may be released together with iPhone 15.