Japanese electronics retailer Nojima Corporation has plans to open its first store at the Aeon Hanoi supermarket after buying more shares in its Vietnamese partner Tran Anh Digital World JSC (TAG), according to Japanese newswire Nikkei.

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The first store, to bear both brands Tran Anh and Nojima, is expected to open by the end of next month with most of its electronics products imported from Japan.

The Hanoi outlet, which will be designed in line with other Nojima stores in Japan, will also sell goods under the Elsonic brand of Nojima.

It is an effort to gain a foothold for future expansion in Vietnam after the Japanese retail giant raised its stake to 31 percent to become the largest shareholder in the Hanoi-based electronic retailer Tran Anh in June this year.

The Japanese bought over 3.7 million more TAG shares, equivalent to a 20.86 percent shareholding, from another foreign shareholder, Aureos Southeast Asia Fund, which had been a strategic partner of Tran Anh since 2010, in a deal of which the value was not disclosed.

According to Nikkei, the expected Hanoi foothold of Nojima is part of a bigger plan targeting the increasing middle class and well-off people in Vietnam.

Nojima forecast that Vietnam will grow much faster, and the firm considers the country the second-most important market in Southeast Asia after it penetrated Cambodia late last year.

The Vietnamese electronics market has continued to grow at a rate of more than 20 percent annually over the past three years, according to Nikkei.

In the 2008-13 period, the proportion of households owning air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines rose 150 percent, 70 percent and 80 percent, respectively, the Japanese newswire reported.

According to Bloomberg, Nojima grossed US$1.95 billion in 2014, up 12 percent compared with 2013.

Tran Anh is currently operating 16 stores, mainly in the north of Vietnam, and has planned to open 7-10 more stores between now and the end of the year.

Thus, in terms of the number of outlets, Tran Anh is the fourth-largest electronics retailer in Vietnam.

In 2015, the Vietnamese firm expects a turnover of VND3.32 trillion ($146 million) and an after-tax profit of VND7.8 billion ($343,000).

After the first half of this year, the company’s earnings and after-tax profit reached nearly VND1.67 trillion ($73.5 million) and VND10.6 billion ($466,000).

The Vietnamese electronics retailing sector has become more attractive to foreign players, given its 90- million-strong population, most of which is still in the young age group.

Power Buy, an electronics store operator under Thai retail conglomerate Central Group, earlier this year acquired a 49 percent stake in the company that owns Ho Chi Minh City-based Nguyen Kim, one of the largest electronics malls in Vietnam.

Power Buy has 80 stores across Thailand, while Nguyen Kim is currently running 23 stores nationwide. 

According to market research company GfK, sales of consumer electronics topped VND116 trillion ($5.5 billion) in Vietnam last year, the second consecutive year the sector had achieved an annual growth rate of over 20 percent.

The main engine of growth came from the mobile phone/smartphone segment, with an annual growth rate of 30 percent, GfK said.

In 2014, Vietnamese spent nearly VND50 trillion ($2.35 billion) buying mobile phones/smartphones, equivalent to 43 percent of the total spending for all electronic/electric products.

Three other segments saw sales near $1 billion each, including TV, refrigeration and IT products (including laptops, tablets, and PCs), maintaining annual growth rates of 14-18 percent.

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