Nearly 70 percent of Vietnamese users highly appreciate the quality,
creativeness, and reliability of Taiwanese information and communication
technology products, a survey by US-based market research firm AC
Nielsen has found.
However, many users are worried about a
decline in Taiwanese product quality due to the fierce price war with
American and Japanese products.
Releasing this information
at a workshop organised in HCM City Nov. 16 on sharing
experiences about a new market by the city ICT Press Club and Taiwan
External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), TAITRA chief representative
in Vietnam Tso Wei Dar said: "We would like to share our practical
experiences in developing the IT industry with local enterprises.
"We would like to hear how we can help create a distribution system for Taiwanese electronic products in Vietnam ."
Pham Thien Nghe, a representative of the HCM City Computers
Association's ICT Reseller Club, warned: "To develop the Taiwanese brand
name, companies and distributors should not cut costs related to
quality verification and ensure quality."
Ho Quoc Hue,
distributor manager of CMC firm, said: "When entering the Vietnamese
market, Taiwanese manufacturers should have a long-term policy,
commitment, and business strategy to support distributors and bring real
benefits to customers."
Delegates pointed out that
Taiwanese brand names suffered from the disadvantage of not investing to
build their image and instead trying to cut marketing costs.
"If we want a good marketing campaign, distributors have to persuade
Taiwanese manufacturers to take part," Mai Van Cong, director of Tam
Nhin (Vision) company, a distributor, lamented.
"But this should be a strategic task."
He also said that the prestige of a distributor was a factor in sales
because many customers care about where they buy the product rather than
where it is made.
ICT hardware sales in Vietnam this
year are expected to be around 7.5 billion USD, lower than targeted
after the industry was hit by the recent plunge in the value of the VND.
There are around 12,000 retail ICT distributors in the
country employing 50,000 workers. Around 69 percent of ICT sales is in
HCM City and 29 percent in Hanoi./.
