Sharp growth in 3G subscriptions in sight: Qualcomm

September 14, 2012 | 08:39

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Qualcomm, one of the world’s leading 3G chipset suppliers, has forecast 3G mobile service subscriptions in Vietnam will shoot up at a two-digit rate annually in the next few years.

Speaking to local media on Tuesday, John Stefanac, chairman of Qualcomm for South East Asia & Pacific, said there is a boom of experiencing 3G services here in the country. He predicted the nation’s 3G subscription growth will be 15 per cent annually in the next three years.

The total number of 3G subscribers in Vietnam now just stays at less than a dozen million.

According to Stefanac, Vietnam has advantages of developing 3G technology given the current favourable market conditions at home.

One of the reasons making 3G technology popular in Vietnam is the strong growth of smartphone use, Stefanac pointed out. He said his firm predicts the rate of local smartphone users will surge to 21 per cent at the end of this year from the 16 per cent recorded last year.

To be well-prepared for the upcoming 3G technology wave, the company will seek to support Vietnamese firms to produce and market smartphones using low-cost Qualcomm chipsets to help boost local 3G services subscriptions.

For instance, Qualcomm is cooperating with cellphone makers like FPT, MobiStar and Q-Mobile to release onto the market Snapdragon S4 - smart phone products equipped with its new chipsets. It is expected these products will be priced at less than $200 a unit and will be available in the local market at the year’s end.

Besides providing chipsets for assembling low-cost 3G mobile phones of local brands, Qualcomm collaborates with mobile services suppliers such as Viettel, MobiFone and Vinaphone to improve the quality of their 3G networks.

Saigon Times

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