In 2007, Vietnamese people were still familiar with basic mobile phones such as Nokia, Motorola or a bit more advanced BlackBerry. Owning a smartphone with a touch screen at that time was extremely difficult. At that time, the first iPhone was launched and quickly became a dream phone for most Vietnamese technology lovers thanks to its uniqueness, modernity and the grand launch of Steve Jobs.
With a price tag of up to 499 USD (equivalent to about 8 million VND) at the time of its launch, the phone was both impressive and also received a lot of skepticism, when normal phones only cost around 2 million VND.
The sought after phone
Since its launch, the price of an iPhone has never been cheap. However, the high price along with the top features and improvements at the time of launch makes the new iPhone models always sought after by a segment of Vietnamese people every year. Not only limited to technology lovers, many young people even consider the iPhone a symbol of success, style and try every way to own this phone as soon as possible.
In Vietnam, there was a time when selling hand-carried iPhones was a "money-making" business, when official Apple dealers in Vietnam were still very few. In 2015 - 2016, many young people even invited each other to neighboring countries such as Thailand and Singapore to queue up to buy, then return to Vietnam to resell for profit. The difference for an iPhone could be up to tens of millions of VND if the iPhone was brought to Vietnam early.
"I got an iPhone quite early and often change my phone every time a new iPhone is released. When the iPhone 8 and iPhone X were released, my friends and I organized a trip to Singapore to coincide with the iPhone launch, both to travel and to conveniently buy iPhones to bring back to Vietnam to sell. At that time, there were also many Vietnamese people lining up to buy new iPhones at the Apple store in Singapore like us," said Bao Trung, who lives in Tay Ho district, Hanoi.
For young people with a "tighter" budget, changing to a new phone every year when Apple launches it is impossible, but there are many ways to spend less money to experience the technology on new iPhone models. One of them is the "locked" iPhone or iPhones for a certain market such as the US, Japan, not Vietnam. The characteristic of this type of iPhone is that it is produced for fixed markets, cannot install a SIM card and is used simply like international iPhone models. Therefore, to use the "locked" iPhone, a special device is needed to attach to the Vietnamese SIM card to be able to connect to the network.
"Locked iPhones are no different from international models, but the price is 1/3 cheaper, sometimes half cheaper than new ones. When I was a student, I used many generations of locked iPhones such as iPhone 5, 5s or iPhone 6s. Apart from having to attach a thin SIM card to a regular SIM card, there is no difference or inconvenience," said Ms. Doan Thao, living in Long Bien district.
Industries that follow this phone model have also grown strongly over time. From selling phone cases, repairing, installing, selling accessories, more and more stores have sprung up with a variety of choices for customers. Some experienced phone repairmen even have a side job of checking iPhones for people who want to buy used phones. Many scammers also take advantage of customers' love for iPhones to make a profit, most notably selling fake iPhones, "rebuilt" iPhones. This is a slang term for iPhones that are "assembled" from separate components of unknown origin, into a complete phone but do not guarantee quality when used.
It's no longer difficult to own an iPhone
It has been more than 16 years since the first iPhone was launched, this phone has been improved a lot with new features and versions aimed at specific customer groups. Every year, Apple launches up to 4 versions of iPhone with different prices, suitable for customers' needs. The bitten apple company even launched cheap iPhone models to serve customers. From a phone considered a "dream" of many people, the apple phone has appeared everywhere.
"The iPhone has now developed to a certain level, making the new versions not too different from the previous version. In recent years, I no longer need to change my iPhone every time the company releases a new model. However, the memories of trips to buy iPhones abroad or the joy of buying my first iPhone are always memorable," said Mr. Trung.
Vietnamese customers no longer have difficulty finding and buying iPhones as before thanks to the increasing number of Apple authorized dealers. The "side job" of selling hand-carried iPhones is no longer available because these dealers always have goods quickly and with full models. Since 2023, Apple has also opened an online store in Vietnam, allowing users to buy directly from the company without the need for authorized dealers.
