It is rumored that Vietnamese people paid $1 billion to import luxury iPhones in the first quarter 2010. Is the rumor true? If so, where did the money come from?

VietNamNet Bridge – It is rumored that Vietnamese people paid $1 billion to import luxury iPhones in the first quarter 2010. Is the rumor true? If so, where did the money come from?

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Customers buy iPhone at a VinaPhone handheld shop.

The rumor originated from the government’s press conference in March, where Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Pham Thanh Bien said that mobile operators spent billions of US dollars to import equipment for their 3G networks in the first quarter of 2010. And the import of 3G equipment contributed in part to Vietnam’s trade deficit worth around $3.5 billion in this period.

According to the General Statistics Office, the rumor about iPhone is not true. The value of Vietnam’s exports in the January-March period 2010 is over $14 billion while the money spent on imports is over 17.5 billion. The estimated value of imports of electronic, computer and related components reached $1 billion, 53.1 percent up year on year.

This information is sufficient to prove that the above rumor is wrong because iPhone is just an item in electronic category.

This wasn’t news for VinaPhone and Viettel, the two distributors of iPhone in Vietnam. VinaPhone’s director Lam Hoang Vinh said that his company has imported only 5000 iPhone and the sales are actually very slow. $1 billion would buy 2 million iPhones. If the average price for an iPhone is $500, VinaPhone has paid only $2.5 million for importing iPhone.

Dinh Anh Huan, business manager of Mobile World, one of the biggest handheld distributing systems in Vietnam, said: “Around 3000 iPhone brought into Vietnam by individuals were sold monthly but the sales of this type has fallen recently since iPhone is officially now distributed in Vietnam. The prices for unofficially imported iPhone are comparable to officially imported products.

However, it is not a surprise if telecom firms paid billions of USD to import 3G equipment. Last year they committed with the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIT) to invest more than 33 trillion dong (equivalent to $2 billion) in 3G networks. Three big operators – MobiFone, VinaPhone and Viettel – have launched 3G networks with broad coverage so the investment in 3G equipment could reach tens of billions of dong.

While importing 3G equipment is not importing consumer goods like mobile phones, it is importing machinery and equipment for production. Telecom operators, therefore, should not be seen as “culprits” of trade deficit.

Thuy Lam