vivo’s driving factor in the competitive Malaysian smartphone market

 

Within the nation’s competitive smartphone industry, vivo Malaysia has carved its name as one of the brands to witness a steady and consistent growth. Marking its continuous commitment towards its customers, the brand has earned its most recent title as “Top Smartphone Vendor in Malaysia” for Q2 and Q4 of 2020. Growing from strength to strength, the brand recorded an impressive 25% shipment share and 21% market share in Malaysia during Q4 2020, according to the Canalys report. 

As the brand celebrates its 7th year in local shores, celebrity entrepreneur, Jeff Chan took the opportunity to host a candid fireside chat with vivo Malaysia’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mike Xu, and vivo’s Senior Marketing Director, Southeast Asia Business, Brandon Lim, to find out more about what makes up vivo’s winning factor. 

Through the 3-part video series, Jeff sought to uncover valuable insights into vivo’s journey in Malaysia and how it stays ahead of the curve, by engineering innovative devices that meets consumers’ demands and beyond. 

Focus on caring for its employees

In the interview session with Jeff, Mike was quick to point out that a brand is only as strong as its workforce supporting it and the recognition is only made possible through the relentless support and drive of vivo’s employees. 

Mike emphasized on how vivo continues to prioritise and empower its staff and candidly divulged the one factor he looks for in every candidate. He shared how a love for the brand is a key criteria for each and every one of its employees and this marks the basis of how vivo builds its workforce. The vivo Malaysia team has grown from a humble nine employees and with more than 5,000 dealers all across Malaysia, now serves an estimated 2 million users per annum in the local market. 

"At vivo, we are thankful to have not only the trust of our customers, but the support of our employees, partners and dealers as well. Through this, vivo constantly strives to deliver products which are authentic, of good quality and are user-friendly to meet our customers’ needs,” said Mike.

Customer-first mindset

Brandon could not agree more as he elaborated vivo’s customer-first mindset which has shaped vivo’s way of work. This includes how smartphones should elevate the digital lifestyle of its user and enable them to explore the beauty that life has to offer. 

vivo’s prime ethos is to deliver products and services that cater to its customers’ needs, be it a smartphone with impressive photography capabilities to capture life’s best moments, or one which is innovative and ahead of its curve. 

“It is vivo’s belief that technology should not be complicated and should serve as a tool to help our customers lead a better life, which encapsulates our brand promise, “Joy of Humanity”. One way that vivo stays competitive as a brand as well, is to continuously be relevant. As we listen to what our customers want, including their pain points and aspirations in life, we are better able to design a product that helps them to achieve their desired outcome,” said Brandon. 

Innovation at its core

With the upcoming launch of the vivo V21 5G Exclusive Edition, it comes at an ideal time as the government announces earlier this year its MyDigital Blueprint, which is put in place to fast-track 5G infrastructure developments in Malaysia. As the nation progresses towards becoming 5G-enabled, vivo in turn has powered a series of its flagship devices with the capabilities of 5G, including its recently-launched vivo X60 series and the soon-to-be released vivo V21 5G Exclusive Edition. 

Enabling Malaysians to be among the first in the country to enjoy 5G at their fingertips when it becomes a reality in local shores, the upcoming vivo V21 5G Exclusive Edition ensures a smoother, more efficient, and more powerful connectivity experience for browsing and mobile entertainment through vivo’s innovative 5G technology. The device is ideal for users who demand a future-proof smartphone which also reflects vivo’s major strides in industry-leading research and development in the 5G technology.

As of February 2021, vivo has applied over 2,000 5G invention patents and submitted over 5,000 5G proposals to the telecommunications standard development organizations of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In the meantime, vivo has also started research and exploration of 6G, which is expected to be launched around the year 2030. More immediately, as Malaysia is now moving towards a 5G rollout and with consumers moving over to 4G/5G enabled devices, there is more room for growth and vivo is ready for this revolution as it is well-placed to support Malaysians with the next level of devices. 

Malaysians will soon be able to have a first look at a device which is sure to partner them through life’s best moments, as the vivo V21 5G Exclusive Edition is set to hit local shores. The dual-mode 5G phone, combining proprietary 5G antenna technology, consumes less power but is more powerful and more stable than single-mode 5G phones. The hyper-fast 5G connectivity allows users to enjoy 4K UHD live streams and CPU-intensive games as well.

The vivo V21 5G Exclusive Edition will be available in Malaysia from 27 May 2021. For more information on the new vivo V21 series, visit vivo’s official Website or check out vivo Malaysia’s Facebook and Instagram. 

To view the insightful 3-part video series featuring Mike Xu and Brandon Lim, visit vivo Malaysia’s Facebook page.