Vietnam’s leading mobile network operator MobiFone is dipping its toe into the retail sector with the opening of its first high-tech device store in Ho Chi Minh City today, October 19.

The telecom firm will sell mobile phones and other high-end devices at its first-ever retail store, located in the downtown area in the southern metropolis, according to MobiFone.

The company wants to gain a competitive edge in selling high-tech devices and to offer more competitive promotional data plans to subscribers who buy gadgets from its store.

MobiFone, Vietnam’s second largest mobile network operator after military-run Viettel, has plans to expand into retail, cable TV and multimedia channels in the future, and this outlet is the first step, according to general director Cao Duy Hai.

The company is scheduled to open more stores in other locations such as Hanoi and the southern province of Dong Nai after the inaugural store is opened in Ho Chi Minh City.

The 100 percent state-owned MobiFone is set to go from a network operator to a matrix organization after undergoing a corporate restructuring in late 2014.

Last year, MobiFone posted a revenue of more than VND36 trillion (US$1.61 billion) and a pretax profit of VND7.3 trillion ($325.89 million), up 5.2 percent from a year earlier.

The company is expected to enjoy similar profits in 2015.

Major rival Viettel has been in the retail sector for a long time already and is now running 282 handset stores throughout the country.