Laptop sales have plateaued despite companies launching new products to stimulate the market, with insiders blaming it on the economy and a switch by consumers to tablets. — Photo vietnamnet.vn

HCM CITY – Laptop sales have plateaued despite companies launching new products to stimulate the market, with insiders blaming it on the economy and a switch by consumers to tablets.

In the first half of this year there has been a slight fall in sales compared with the same period last year, Nguyễn Văn Thanh of the mobile devices purchasing department at Thế Giới Di Động (Mobile World) Joint Stock Company told Việt Nam News.

Lenovo, without providing detailed figures, said: “Việt Nam has contributed significantly to the company’s [business] on the global and regional scale. [But] it has been a challenging year for many and for Lenovo too.”

A wholesale company, which did not want to be identified, said it has had to reduce this year’s laptop sales target due to the downturn the market is going through.

A salesperson at a computer wholesaler, who asked not to be identified, said many people no longer use laptops because they have switched to tablets.

Though the market has been slow, laptop producers have been launching many products with new and improved features and competitive prices.

Lenovo has rolled out a number of new products and solutions to address every customer’s needs like Yoga 300, IdeaPad 305, and ideapad 710s.

To meet businesses’ demands, it launched the new ThinkPad X1 series in an ultra-thin size.

Acer came out with products like the Aspire S13 while HP launched Zbook Studio G3 Mobile Workstation, Elite Book 1040 G3 and Elite x2 1012 G1.

Thanks to such products, these brands remain the most popular in the market.

Thanh of Mobile World said: “Many laptops with new technologies and good prices have been launched this year. The most popular ones are 14-16-inch laptops with Windows.

“Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, Acer, and Apple are the most popular brands.”

Many more new products would be launched before the end of next year to help revive the market, he revealed.

Roy Ng, country general manager of Lenovo, remained upbeat about the future: “Việt Nam has recovered from a long economic recession and Vietnamese businesses are now investing strongly in IT systems, while consumers are longing for innovative designs to improve the experience and quality of life.” -VNS