Vinaphone and Viettel have reported brisk sales of the iPhone 4 which they began selling today.
Vinaphone’s 500 handsets were gone by 8:30 am, an hour after the showrooms opened, while Viettel sold its last phone at 9 am.
Vinaphone is offering the unlocked version of the 16-gigabyte model at VND13.4 million (US$688) to post-paid buyers and the 32-gigabyte model at VND15.6 million.
In case of prepaid packages, they cost a million dong more.
Viettel is offering them at VND13.9 million and VND16.1 million for both prepaid and post-paid versions. The military-run operator is also offering locked versions to be used on its own network at VND600,000 less.
Vinaphone’s post-paid packages cost more or less depending on the period customers pledge to use – 12 or 24 months.
The higher the tariff, the more the benefits, Vinaphone said.
The company has imported only 450 handsets and they were only available for post-paid users in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang.
Viettel offers plenty of freebies on its post-paid packages.
It claims to have imported only around 550 handsets and this morning it began selling by selecting customers through a draw of lots.
At a Vinaphone shop in HCMC, a customer reported his pocket was picked when he was standing in the queue for the phone and he lost VND19 million.
Meanwhile, with the two operators announcing competitive prices for unlocked iPhone’s, the phone’s price at shops has slipped to VND15 million/VND15.8 million for the locked /unlocked 16GB version and VND17 million/VND18.7 million for the 32GB version from VND17 million - VND20 million.
The shops have also stopped importing iPhone 4s to watch VinaPhone and Viettel’s next moves.
Some fear that the shops will simply buy from VinaPhone and Viettel since the latter’s prices are lower.
Officials from the two companies, however, told newswire Vnexpress that they are aware of this possibility and will not allow anyone to buy several phones.
They also plan to import more handsets, with Vinaphone saying it will get its next consignment on October 5.
Posters on online tech forums claim the two operators have imported more than what they have announced and are playing cagey to observe the market response.
