The Hanoi Times - Information communication and technology resellers are facing tough times after the widening of the dollar/dong trading band to 3% last weekend, according to CMC Distribution, a subsidiary of the local technology giant CMC Corporation.

Vu Van Toan, deputy director of CMC Distribution, told the Daily o­n Wednesday that his business became hard when the exchange rate was adjusted. The fluctuation has hurt CMC’s agents and brought customer concern. "We are receiving complaints about sale declines from our agents," Toan confided.
According to Toan, before the widening of the dollar/dong trading band to 3%, each agent could earn US 10 to US$15 for each notebook sold. Now, the Vietnam dong is weaker and these agents will likely lose money.
"Up to date, no reseller sends products back to our company. However, they ask CMC to protect their rights when the exchange rate changes. It means distributors should provide capital to compensate their agents," Toan added.
Under the same pressure, others ICT resellers complain. Mike Asao, representative of Canon Singapore Ltd Pte in Vietnam, told the Daily that Canon is also facing difficulties due to the weakened Vietnam dong. Customers must think carefully before deciding to buy any tech product.
"However, inflation in Vietnam is a blend of bad and good inflation and that forces resellers and distributors to be flexible by offering more choices for customers," Asao said.
He said he believed consumer demand would recover at the year’s end when the holidays come. Thus, Canon would offer around 30 of the latest products for local customers in December. Mobile retailers like Vien Thong A and The Gioi Di Dong have also claimed they are facing pressure from rising prices and falling profits at a time when the dong is weakening against the dollar.
"We are considering adjusting retail prices," they added.
Resellers and distributors have launched promotion campaigns to lure clients back.
As Toan observed, promotion campaigns o­nly occur in the electronic and home appliances sector. "Meanwhile, information technology product retailers are limited to promotion programs with an aim of exploring market movements," Tuan said.
Although the technology market is facing hardship, German-researcher GfK is optimistic that the country’s consumer technology market will expand 27% this year and the year-on-year growth of the technology market will remain strong with sales estimated to reach US$4.07 billion.