Vietnam: the market has been flooded with cheap no-brand cellphones with no system to recycle used handsets

[VN Agency] About 8.3 million cellphones were sold in Viet Nam last year, with most of selling under VND3 million (US$160), according to the German-based GFK market research company.

Cheap handphones continue to dominate the local market, with a growth of 15-20 per cent since the beginning of the year.

Most of them are imported from China with no brand name.

"Chinese mobile phones have flooded the local market, both urban and rural areas, due to low prices and colourful and multi-functions," said Le Quang Vu, vice general director of the A Communications Company.

At an affordable price of VND1.5 million-3 million ($80-$160), customers can own a Chinese cellphone that can access the internet, TV programmes and music. They can also use two sim cards.Together with Chinese no-name products, the number of secondhand mobile phones imported to Viet Nam has sharply increased.

Refurbished

"Secondhand luxury phones are imported, refurbished and then sold to customers, which is a new trend," said Nguyen Trung Hau, a mobile phone shop owner in HCM City.

But high quality cannot be assured, as retailers only offer a short guarantee.

Leading handphone manufacturer Nokia is considering adding more functions to its budget products. In a pilot project in India, the manufacturer is trying to allow cheap mobile phones to access the internet with special applications for farmers. Information about weather, prices of agricultural products and updates on cultivation technology would be provided.

"We are targeting a future in which poor people can access the internet without a computer," Nokia’s general director in Asia-Pacific region Benoit Nalin said.

Telecommunications experts estimate that there are about 20 million cell phones in use in Viet Nam.

However, there is no policy on how to deal with old phones no longer in use.

The phones can be threatening to the environment if they are not disposed of properly.

Nokia has 5,000 locations world-wide to drop off phones for recycling but none of them are in Viet Nam.

No-name phones flood market