Consumer demand for high-tech products

Consumers selecting laptops to buy at a mobile device store in Bien Hoa City

Mr. Ly Hoang Vu (Buu Long Ward, Bien Hoa City) said that because his daughter is in grade 9 studying online by phone, it is quite difficult because the screen is small and she cannot follow and understand the lesson effectively. He decided to buy a laptop for her so that she can study online more conveniently. Therefore, his goal is to find a laptop with a wide screen, configuration meeting basic needs, and a selling price of about VND10 million. However, when searching and contacting large electronics stores and supermarkets, he was told by staff that that segment was "sold out", without many options. This year's laptop manufacturers have produced very few products, the number of laptops sold very little, even some brands are not available for sale.

According to many businesses, retail chains, stores dealing in mobile devices and technology products in Bien Hoa City, the demand for buying technology products has increased in recent years, especially since October. Due to the sudden high demand, many products, especially those in the popular segment, are not available for sale.

Mr. Pham Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of Bien Hoa Computer Joint Stock Company (Dong Khoi Street, Bien Hoa City) said that the company's store chain is still maintaining a sufficient quantity of goods to supply the needs of customers. However, due to recent high demand, many items are often unavailable, customers will need to order in advance to have the laptops to buy. Customers will usually wait about 1 week to get the laptops, depending on the needs and sources of customers ordering. Laptops and desktop computers with the price range from VND 15-20 million are the best-selling.

Ms. Yen Vy, a saleswoman in the chain of Hoang Ha Mobile stores on Pham Van Thuan Street, Bien Hoa City, said that in the past 2 months, the need to contact and order smartphones and tablets has been nearly doubled. In which, tablets from VND8 million to VND19 million, and popular phones with affordable prices from Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, etc. with prices from VND3.5 million to VND7million were ordered by many customers.

Many products "sold out"

In previous years, the end of the year was considered a "golden time" to buy laptops and phones because consumers would have a lot of different choices. At the same time, retail stores and chain systems also implement a series of discount and promotion programs to help customers easily choose the right product. However, the epidemic situation has caused limited supply along with the increased demand for online work and study, consequently, the consumers do not have as many choices as before.

Mr. Hoang Vu added: “Due to knowing the epidemic situation, I ordered a low-end laptop at a large tech store near my house from August. The staff here said when the laptop is available at the store, they will call me, but they did not have the laptop until the beginning of November. It was an HP laptop worth VND13 million, which was almost the cheapest at that time, I had to buy it immediately because if I hesitated, it would be sold out again, in that case, I don't know how long my daughter has to wait to purchase a laptop to study."

For many "hot" products, customers not only have to order soon, but also have to wait a long time to buy them successfully. For example, the iPhone 13 products (Pro/Pro Max, etc.) are very hot, many stores and retail chains in Bien Hoa City said that they are not available and do not know the exact time when the phones will arrive. Therefore, the customer will leave contact information for the sale staff until the products arrive, the staff will actively call to notify the customer come to buy.

Phan Anh