There are no more cheap laptops in Vietnam
(Dan Tri) - In the context of constantly escalating component prices due to the AI fever, the laptop market in Vietnam is also seeing many changes.
According to a report from market research company IDC, the number of computers shipped globally in the second quarter reached 68.2 million devices, down 4.9% over the same period last year. This decline ended a streak of nine consecutive quarters of growth, signaling a challenging period for computer manufacturers.
The cause of the decline in the computer market stems from the global shortage of RAM and hard drive storage. The explosion of AI data centers has consumed a large amount of memory chip supply, causing component prices to increase.
For many years, the laptop segment under 10 million VND has always been the top choice of students and general office users. However, according to surveys at a series of large retail systems, it is almost impossible for users to find any genuine new laptop models at this price.
Big brands with diverse product ranges such as Asus, Acer, Lenovo, HP, Dell or MSI have simultaneously increased their prices. Apple also had to increase prices of a series of products at the end of June due to pressure on component costs.
Laptops in the Vietnamese market are establishing a new price level (Photo: The Anh).
"The laptop segment under 10 million VND almost does not appear. This is the result of many factors such as changing production costs, increasingly higher standard configurations of laptops, and the trend of companies focusing on product lines with better performance," Mr. Hoang Van Dung, Director of the Computer industry at FPT Shop, shared.
Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Tran Nguyen Truc, Director of laptop industry at Mobile World, said the average selling price of laptops has increased by 50-80% depending on each segment and product configuration.
"Products with old prices are no longer available. The laptop segment under 10 million VND is almost no longer able to return to the market. Currently, the lowest configuration on a laptop that users can find is also fluctuating around the price of 15-18 million VND," Mr. Truc added.
The core cause of this price increase comes from long-term changes in the global semiconductor industry. The AI fever has caused large technology corporations to invest all their resources in server infrastructure, exhausting the supply of memory chips, RAM and hard drives. According to Trendforce, the price of RAM for laptops at one point increased nearly 500% from the bottom and still maintains a growth rate of 10-18% each quarter.
Explaining the above situation, Mr. Eric Lee, Southeast Asia Regional Director of Asus, said that unlike previous short-term supply and demand cycles, this price increase comes from long-term changes in the entire semiconductor industry.
"The core driving force lies in the AI race when large technology corporations put all their resources into investing in server infrastructure and high-bandwidth memory to serve AI. This causes the commercial memory chip segment serving consumer devices to shrink.
As long as AI is still "fever", the supply of RAM and popular memory chips will still be in short supply. The new price has been set and depends on the movement of the entire semiconductor industry. In the short and medium term, prices will continue to trend up but are unlikely to return to old levels," said an Asus representative.
Despite the pressure to increase prices, the Vietnamese laptop market still records stable growth. According to data from GfK and Microsoft, the number of new laptops sold in the first half of 2026 has grown by over 10% compared to the same period in 2025.
Mr. Eric Lee, Southeast Asia Regional Director of Asus, said that scarce supply is a long-term problem for the entire semiconductor industry (Photo: Junlie Pham).
"Despite the scarcity of components pushing up product prices, purchasing power in the Vietnamese market still maintains a positive growth momentum. This signal shows that Vietnamese consumers gradually consider laptops as an essential working and learning tool and are willing to adjust their investment budget to own suitable products," Mr. Nguyen Lac Huy, communications representative of CellphoneS system, shared.
Meanwhile, Mr. Eric Lee said that users are tending to extend the life cycle of a laptop in the context of continuously escalating selling prices. In addition, users also proactively invest in models with higher configuration and superior quality right from the beginning to optimize the total cost of use each year.
Also according to experts, the Vietnamese laptop market has entered a "new normal" period, where laptops priced under 10 million VND are a thing of the past.
"In the short term, we think that the segment under 10 million VND will hardly have many options for new products. Instead, the price range from 20 million VND is becoming the main segment of the market, meeting the learning, working and entertainment needs of the majority of users.
The general trend of the current market is still to increase product value through integrating new technologies, instead of competing mainly at low prices," FPT Shop representative commented.
In fact, rising selling prices are not the only current problem. Laptop manufacturers also face a more difficult problem, which is ensuring a stable supply in a volatile market.
This situation even happens to giant Apple, a company famous for its ability to strictly control the supply chain. According to a report from CNBC, Apple's delivery time for MacBook Air currently lasts 5-7 days. In some markets, the waiting period may increase to 10-14 days.
Ensuring supply is a difficult problem for computer manufacturers in the current context (Photo: The Anh).
"The supply of equipment from manufacturers is currently facing many challenges and shows no signs of cooling down in the short term. Due to difficulties in accessing input components, manufacturers have to deliver goods in small batches. The quantity of goods arriving is not enough to meet market demand.
In particular, high-configuration laptops such as Gaming Laptops and AI Laptops are most heavily affected, with the number shipped currently being very limited," a representative of CellphoneS shared.
From the manufacturer's perspective, Mr. Eric Lee, Southeast Asia Regional Director of Asus, said that scarcity is not only purely due to lack of raw materials but also due to the forecasting ability of each company.
"The nature of the phenomenon of scarcity of goods on the market does not entirely come from a pure shortage of raw materials. This situation may stem from forecast deviations compared to actual market demand.
When a unit misjudges the consumer pulse or reacts slowly to fluctuations in component prices, supply disruptions at retail shelves are inevitable," said an Asus representative.
Mr. Eric Lee also emphasized that the AI wave is creating terrible pressure and exhausting the capacity of leading chip foundries like TSMC. This makes the level of instability in component supply higher than ever.
FPT Shop representative said that laptop supply in general is still maintained relatively stable by manufacturers. However, at some times, some new models or high-configuration versions may not be able to meet market demand due to the plan to allocate goods by region and period.
Meanwhile, Mr. Tran Nguyen Truc, Director of the laptop industry at Mobile World, shared the situation that many older products are no longer available. Worth mentioning, companies are becoming more and more cautious when importing new products at high prices into the Vietnamese market. This could cause supply chain disruption in the market.
Currently, Vietnamese consumers no longer choose laptops under 10 million VND (Photo: The Anh).
"When looking at the overall picture of the current laptop industry, the market's concerns about the risk of supply disruption or scarcity of goods are completely well-founded. In the Vietnamese market, we are still completely proactive and ensure supply fully meets the needs of consumers in all segments," Asus' Southeast Asia Regional Director said.
Besides ensuring supply, balancing selling prices is also a key factor, playing a role in promoting sustainable market growth. In the current context, the combination of large-scale subsidy programs and flexible financial solutions from retailers is expected to help users more easily access laptops.
"To reduce the cost burden for Vietnamese consumers, we also strive to apply new hardware designs to optimize production costs. At the same time, close cooperation with major distribution partners also contributes to preparing goods early, ensuring stable supply," Mr. Eric Lee shared.