Smartphone attracts a great number of young people in Viet Nam. Photo dantri.com.vn

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — The rate of internet access through smart phones and tablets is on the rise among young Vietnamese, for whom the gadgets have become an indispensable part of daily life.

The popularity of smart phones and internet use on them is attributed to the affordability of many brands.

Ivollex Hodiny, Opera Software's growth director in Asia, who was in Viet Nam to launch Opera internet and tie up with telecom service provider Vinaphone, said Android devices costing below US$200 are popular in Viet Nam among youngsters.

Opera software, used by 335 million users worldwide, 260 million of them through smartphones, has seen a rapid growth in popularity in Viet Nam due to the explosion of Android phones in Viet Nam.

Hodiny said in fact Viet Nam is among the biggest markets for Android anywhere in the world.

Recent reports show that the growth in number of Opera Mini users on Android in Viet Nam is only after the Philippines in Asia.

Opera Software has tie-ups with 120 telecom operators around the world.

Nguyen Dang Phuc, executive at Vinaphone's Value Added Services Centre, said though 3G services were launched only in October 2009 in Viet Nam they are used by almost 20 million people now.

Smart phones have become correspondingly popular, he said. Last December only 16 per cent of Vinaphone subscribers were using smart phones, but six months later the number had increased to 25 percent.

More than 70 per cent of smart phone users in the country access the internet every day; 50 per cent of them never leave home without their device.

Vietnamese use smart phones mostly at home (97 per cent), coffee shop (93 per cent), and the workplace (91 per cent).

More importantly, smart phones have been becoming so important to users that 37 percent would rather give up their television than their smartphone.

Most use the phones also for staying informed about local news and entertainment and for social networking. —VNS