Vietnamese still have been hunting for the versions of South Korean smart phones designed for the domestic market, despite a lot of inconvenience. 

In the thoughts of Vietnamese, South Korean smart phones are the phones with a strong configuration and good prices. Therefore, they have been the choice of a lot of choosy phone users.

Since the domestically used versions have not been imported to Vietnam through the official channel, the majority of the products, available at the private shops in Vietnam, have been carried to Vietnam across the border gate by travelers, or imported through unofficial channels.

The increasingly high demand for South Korean smart phones has led to the mushrooming of the shops in Hanoi and HCM City specializing in South Korean product distribution.

The owner of a shop said the prices of the products available there are several millions of dong cheaper than the international versions of the same products.

He, introducing himself as a mobile phone expert, said most of the domestic versions of South Korean smart phones have stronger configuration than the international versions of the same products. The buyers get one free spare battery and separated charging dock.

“The products have been collected in the South Korean domestic market not only to be carried to Vietnam, but to China, Malaysia and the Philippines as well,” said Nguyen Thanh Hai, a smart phone hunter in Suwon, Gyeonggi, South Korea.

According to Hai, South Korean people usually buy the smart phones associated with the contracts on using services of the mobile network operators such as SK Telecom, KT Corp or LG Uplus.

These are the blocked phones with very low prices. The buyers just need to pay in advance a very small part of money to get the phones, and commit to use the 4G service packages for two years.

After several-months of use, the buyers can sell back the phones to the shops at negotiable prices. The shops, which buy back the products, would terminate the contracts with mobile network operators and sell the products to merchants, who collect and distribute the products to the retail shops in Vietnam.

Hai said that the shops have their “tricks” to terminate the contracts with mobile network operators. The phones can still be used when they are carried to other countries. If not, the products would be blocked forever by the network operators, which mean that they would be useless.

Like other used high technology products, these South Korean products are prohibited to be imported to Vietnam as stipulated by the Ministry of Information and Communication.

The owner of a small shop in HCM City said the phones can be brought to Vietnam in small quantity, put into travelers’ luggage. He said he has a relative in South Korea in charge of collecting products and sending to Vietnam. Therefore, his products have competitive prices, because he does not have to pay intermediary parties.

“I can also buy products directly from South Korean merchants. There are a lot of ad pieces on South Korean websites. If the products are nearly brand new, I would buy them and install Vietnamese ROM for sale in Vietnam,” he said.

VietNamNet Bridge