US technology giant Qualcomm and VinSmart established a partnership in December 2018 with a Patent Licensing Agreement covering multimode complete terminals. The agreement granted VinSmart a royalty-bearing patent license to develop, manufacture and sell branded multimode complete terminals such as 4G/5G smartphones, taking it a further step toward its goal of becoming an international-level technology conglomerate by 2028.

Since the signing of the strategic partnership agreement, VinSmart has launched 13 smartphones based on Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile platforms both in Vietnam and international markets (Spain, Russia and Myanmar). In September 2020, Qualcomm and VinSmart reached a major milestone with the launch of the VSmart Aris Series, the first 5G-enabled smartphone produced in Vietnam. Running on the 5G modular Snapdragon 765G platform, the VSmart Aris Series is also the second smartphone introduced to the market to have a sub-screen camera.

Thuy said Qualcomm and VinSmart are currently working on a new device – VSmart Aris 5G V742, making it compatible with most network operators globally. This will be the first VSmart device that VinSmart plans to introduce to the US market.

With VinSmart’s recent announcement about expanding its international footprint, including launching VSmart in the US market this year, Qualcomm remains a steadfast partner of the company, Thuy said, adding that the US is the target market where VinSmart will manufacture smartphones and export 5G-enabled smartphones and equipment in 2021.

Qualcomm’s support for VinSmart includes testing for PTCRB standards, a required certification for products to be marketed in the US, at Qualcomm’s R&D lab in Hanoi to achieve time and cost efficiencies; partnership networking to connect VinSmart with Qualcomm’s collaborators in chosen markets; and sharing of Qualcomm’s in-market knowledge and expertise.

Qualcomm and VinSmart are also working to expand the latter’s 4G/5G products offerings. This includes new product categories such as MiFi (mobile Wifi routers), customer premise equipment (CPE), Wi-Fi 6 smart home, AI Edge and camera and 5G laptops (ACPCs) for both the Vietnamese and international markets. These new products are meant to address consumer demands, such as work-from-home and online learning.

Thieu Phuong Nam, country director for Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia at Qualcomm, said that once the 5G model is put into use, VinSmart and Qualcomm together will dominate the market of inexpensive branded 5G devices.

“VinSmart’s first 5G-enabled smartphone produced in Vietnam is evidence of Vingroup’s capacity to research and develop 5G terminal devices, making it ready for the transformation of the telecom infrastructure in the country. This creates confidence that Vietnam can be on par with global peers on 5G technology in the future, and is good evidence of Vietnam’s acceleration in the Industry 4.0 era,” Nam said.

Qualcomm’s collaboration with Vingroup has also expanded to other fields, such as connected cars, including infotainment platforms; AI algorithms using Qualcomm hardware and licensing it to other OEMs via Qualcomm’s independent software vendors (ISV) program; AI Edge and camera for Vingroup’s smart city projects.

Quynh Nga