Media tablets, which have gained immense popularity around the globe in recent years, have deepened their penetration into Vietnam with a double-digit jump in sales volume in the first five months of this year, German market research firm GfK said Monday.

Nearly 582,000 media tablets, or devices that are based on a touchscreen display of at least five inches with an on-screen keyboard, were sold in Vietnam between January and May, up 34 percent from the same time frame a year ago, according to GfK.

The German firm attributed the deeper penetration of the popular gadget to the introduction of more entry-level models in Vietnam, which it calls an emerging market for media tablets.

While these less expensive models offer more affordable options to local consumers, they resulted in a five percent decline in sales value due to the cheap prices, according to GfK.

“Over three in every four (76 percent) media tablets sold so far in 2015 cost less than US$300, as compared to just one in two (50 percent) in 2014, signifying a strong shift in market trends towards the low-end segment,” said Tran Khoa Van, managing director of GfK in Vietnam.

“The result of more media tablets being sold at lower prices brought about a [drop] in the total market value in spite of strong consumer demand for the gadget.” 

On the other hand, while high-end media tablets priced above $500 accounted for 29 percent of the total market’s sales volume in the first five months of 2014, the share of the segment reduced by half to only 14 percent this year.

A similar trend was seen in the $300-500 segment, where its 22 percent share last year was reduced to 11 percent in 2015.

The average price of media tablets also declined 30 percent from $367 last year to $259 this year, according to GfK.

While there were 56 media tablet brands catering to the Vietnamese market in the Jan-May period of last year, there were only 49 left in the five-month period of this year.

These remaining players, however, have introduced 20 more new models, from 278 to 298.

GfK findings also found another emerging trend, in which smaller media tablets, particularly the 7.9 inches and below segment, became more popular with Vietnamese consumers.

Seventy-one percent of media tablets purchased this year were of this size, up from its 62 percent market share last year.

The market share of devices with nine- to ten-inch screens, on the other hand, dwindled by half, from 26 to 13 percent.

“Price erosion is a natural progression of a tech product’s lifecycle, and the average price of media tablets will definitely be drifting down further from the low of $250 reported in the latest tracked month of May,” Van said.

The GfK executive added Vietnam’s media tablet market is anticipated to achieve even higher sales in the third quarter of the year with the back-to-school promotions.

“Annual sales [are] estimated to hit 1.9 million for the year,” he concluded.

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