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Vietnamese IT firms seeking the way to export mobile apps

Update: 11-03-2012 | 00:00:00

Vietnamese information technology (IT) firms have been trying to export mobile applications following the good news about the smart phone consumption increase around the globe. 

A report released by Canalys earlier this month showed that the number of purchased smart phones has increased by 63 percent in the last year. Meanwhile, according to Gartner, also a survey market firm, there were 17.7 billion downloads of mobile apps from international app stores, bringing the total turnover of 15 billion dollars to suppliers. The figures are expected to increase to 185 billion downloads and 58 billion dollars by 2014.

Therefore, Vietnamese firms have every reason to believe that they would be able to prosper with mobile app exports.

Great potentials

Le Duc Bao, Director of AntTek, specializing in making apps for mobile phones, said the firm began making apps for export since April 2011, while enjoying the steady monthly growth rate of 30 percent in turnover. Its main markets are North America and Europe which consume 80 percent of the firm’s export value. The other 20 percent comes from South Korea and Japan.

Blacklist, the application allowing to block spam messages and calls, alone has been sold to 15,000 clients. Meanwhile, AntTek has more than five apps with the total number of buyers reaching 30,000, according to Bao.

Bui Viet Thanh Phong, Head of the Technology Division of KMS Technology, said that KMS has got a lot of orders on mobile app design, mostly in the fields of education, management and amusement, 70 percent of which came from new clients.

Dao Quoc Tuan, Director of Mobisoft.com.vn, said that his firm specializes in doing the outsourcing of mobile apps in business management, including ERP (enterprise resource planning) or CRM (customer relationship management).

“The EU is our main market. Orders also come from other markets including North Europe, but the number of orders remains modest,” Tuan said, adding that since mid 2011, the demand for outsourcing mobile apps has increased by 50 percent in comparison with the same period of the previous year.

However, Tuan said the value of the orders does not increase, while the turnover may decrease by 30 percent in comparison with the previous years, due to the global economic difficulties.

How to approach foreign markets?

Bao of AntTek said that the mobile apps of his firm have been exported mainly through international apps such as Google, Amazon, or through the cooperation with the telecom networks in the import markets. For example, AntTek has cooperated with Orange France Telecom to introduce its products to the French market.

The orders the firm gets are usually the ones to protect the privacy of users, for example Ultimate App Guard or Ultimate Secret Box which allow to secure important information, such as bank accounts or insurance accounts saved in mobile phones.

He said that before marketing products, AntTek would ask the experts with deep knowledge about the markets to help introduce the firm’s products on some websites and forums with high number of visitors.

He went on to say that in 2012, AntTek would target some other potential markets in Asia such as Singapore, Japan and South Korea. When asked about Chinese market, Bao said that he is not interested in the market because of the high piracy level.

Meanwhile, Tuan of Mobisoft has decided to cooperate with an enterprise in the UK to sell its apps and games at international stores under the brand MeYuMe.

Phong of KMS said that besides making products to orders, KMS also develops mobile apps itself to serve the demand on the market and sell at international stores such as Apple, Google and Amazon. He said that entertainment apps would be in the focus, because users spend 70-80 percent of their mobile phone using time on entertainment activities.

(Source: TBKTSG)                   

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