[Audio] Domestic products are still at a disadvantage in the electronics market

Imported products sold at Hoang Bien electronics store in Tien Tien commune (Hai Duong city) account for about 80%.

Foreign goods dominate

The campaign “Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods” has created a big change in the production and consumption of Vietnamese goods. Many Vietnamese product groups have dominated the consumer market such as garments and household appliances. However, for the electronics and electrical appliances market, Vietnamese brands only account for a small proportion.

In many supermarkets and stores in the province, electrical and electronic products are sold in abundance with many types of products from televisions, refrigerators, air conditioners, to rice cookers, microwave ovens, etc. Of which, the largest market share is still brands from Thailand, Malaysia, China, Korea, etc. Televisions are mostly from Malaysia; speakers and accessories are imported from China, Thailand, and Japan. The average price of these products ranges from 8-18 million VND/product. Meanwhile, Vietnamese brands with domestic origin account for a low proportion, and the price is also more affordable, at 5-10 million VND/product.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Minh, manager of MediaMart supermarket on Tran Hung Dao street (Hai Duong city) said that the supermarket has more than 1,000 products from foreign brands, accounting for about 80%. Product lines of Vietnamese brands often have simple designs, belonging to the popular segment. If in the past, when buying electronic and electrical products, consumers often only cared about durability and price, now beautiful designs, compactness, quality, affordable prices and warranty and after-sales service are the top criteria for consumers. However, in terms of design and quality, many consumers still consider when comparing products from domestic and foreign brands.

At this time, MediaMart supermarket on Tran Hung Dao street is implementing the "Hello Summer" promotion program with incentives on prices, installation costs... for air conditioners, refrigerators, and cooling equipment. Consumers' choices focus on famous, long-standing brands such as Panasonic, LG, Mitsubishi, Daikin... Air conditioners and refrigerators of these brands are chosen by many people, popular in the segment from 7-17 million VND/product".

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nguyet, an employee at Hoang Bien electronics store in Tien Tien commune (Hai Duong city), said: "At our store, imported products account for about 80%. Most customers coming to the store are interested in famous brands from abroad. Cooling devices such as fans, air conditioners, and air conditioners are in season. Air conditioners of Vietnamese brands such as Reetech, Nagakawa or Funiki are also available, but few consumers choose them."

According to the representative of Hoang Han electronics store in Thanh Ha town, the promotion and warranty policies of foreign and domestic electronic and electrical products are similar. For example, air conditioners usually have a warranty period of 1-3 years. The advantage of Vietnamese air conditioner brands is that they have many types in the popular segment, but the disadvantage is that the technology is not as modern as foreign brands, the designs are often not eye-catching, there are few models, most of the Vietnamese brands are new to the market so they are not yet known by many people.

Consumers are not interested

Consumers' psychology in choosing electronic and electrical products is currently based on brands, especially famous brands, so in general, Vietnamese electronic and electrical products are still not easy to compete. Normally, before going to the shopping place, consumers have researched information about the brand and manufacturer of the product they are looking for. Sometimes, each product group is automatically associated with a famous brand name from a number of countries. For example, induction cookers are often famous brands such as Malloca, Bosch, Chefs... from Germany, Spain. Televisions are often familiar brands such as Samsung, LG, Sony from Korea, Japan... Speakers and accessories are imported from China, Thailand... Due to psychology and habits, consumers are still quite cautious when introduced to domestically produced products, even though recently there have been many Vietnamese electronic and electrical products of good quality.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung in Hop Tien commune (Nam Sach) said: "The criteria for me to buy electrical appliances are good quality, beautiful design, compact, energy saving, and reasonable price. I also want to support Vietnamese products, however, in terms of electrical appliances, the quality, design... domestically produced are not as good as imported brands, and there are very few Vietnamese brands. Therefore, consumers do not have many choices."

Some purely Vietnamese electrical appliance brands that are well known to many consumers in Vietnam are Sunhouse, Goldsun, Asanzo, Funiki. However, most of the products of Vietnamese brands are mainly household electrical appliances such as rice cookers, induction cookers, electric ovens, while there are not many washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, and televisions.

The campaign “Vietnamese people prioritize using Vietnamese goods” is still being promoted and promoted by all levels and sectors to change consumer awareness. From there, it creates conditions for Vietnamese goods to affirm their position, especially in the context of integration and fierce competition today. In order to compete with foreign goods in the electronics and electrical appliances market, domestic manufacturers need to pay attention to investing in production technology, improving quality and diversifying products and designs. In addition, it is necessary to do a good job of promoting and advertising Vietnamese branded products so that consumers know more, thereby creating stronger competitiveness with famous foreign brands.

HUYEN TRANG