The battle OTT: 1 year look back

After nearly 1 year of competition of candidates Wechat, LINE, Kakao and Zalo, OTT market gradually shaped with 3-legged stance.

This maintenance can be prolonged without sudden changes from new factors because similarly, Vietnam and International telecommunication market often maintain the 3-legged position.

Self-dispersed: Cannot be 2 million

According to the article " The OTT race continues with the No. 1 goal" , the number of 2 million users to spontaneously spread is unfounded but more emotional. Therefore, if OTT enterprises only focus on the milestone of 2 million, they think that they can spread their own self.

The reason for the milestone of 2 million is not grounded by the Vietnamese market currently has too many competitors with different potentials but they have long-term orientation in the market. After WeChat 's withdrawal due to the boycott of the community, both Line , Kakao Talk and Zalo are having certain positions in the market with different customer segments.

In fact, there are no exact figures published but currently the number of smartphone users in Vietnam is approximately 20% (forecast of Ericsson last 2012) and 3G subscribers approximately 20 million people (Ministry statistics). TTTT end 2012). By the end of 2015, 3G subscribers will grow 226% compared to the current number of nearly 50 million users. These figures prove that the milestone of 2 million is merely the "self-praising" way of OTT units, not the actual meaning.

The battle OTT: 1 year look back Picture 1
OTT messaging application is a familiar service of smartphone users today.

In particular, in the context that Vietnam is gradually building management and cooperation frameworks between network infrastructure providers and OTT enterprises, this business group is facing many barriers from the network. To be able to shake hands with network businesses, OTT products must prove their quality and reputation as well as their security capabilities to ensure safety for customers. Currently LINE and Kakao seem to dominate with international certifications of security while Zalo has not made a statement to reassure users.

In the face of ideas for the 2 million user milestone that some OTT applications aim at are natural dispersal milestones such as Facebook, a mobile industry expert said that this is without a basis and brings Many meanings, because the number of 2 million or so many percent of smartphones installed is only natural if the ' playing field' has only one application.

The long way changes user behavior

OTT in general and OTT in Vietnam in particular is still a new rank in the information-telecommunications technology market. Therefore, to change user behavior from traditional messages to texting and calling OTT is an easy step of translation. Most people who access OTT currently only stop in the city, young and interested in technology. There is a huge market segment in the provinces, middle-aged ages . waiting for enterprises to exploit.

Currently, LINE, Kakao and Zalo seem to gradually shape their own market segments. It seems that Kakao is targeting gamers by cooperating with VTC and a series of VTC game accounts on their application. Zalo is exploiting the group of customers Zing inherent and teenage through their entertainment applications. After a while focusing on teen stars, it seems that Zalo is trying to change tactics with the hope of improving the image thanks to Dam Vinh Hung and Ngo Thanh Van. Meanwhile, Line calmly recorded the high-class Stars trusting LINE like: My Linh, Quoc Trung, Hong Nhung .

The battle OTT: 1 year look back Picture 2
As predicted by many people, OTT will continue to be competitive in the next 2-3 years

Of course there will be interference parts in this fierce competition, but it seems that these 3 applications will form the 'three-legged tripod ' - a very common model in the international and Vietnamese telecommunications market.

After 1 year, the race OTT Vietnam is gradually having clear and clear features. With strong financial potential, foreign applications such as LINE and Kakao will continue to invest in aggressive and large-scale promotional campaigns. Meanwhile, Zalo is continuing to cling to social programs such as protecting the sea and islands to encourage users to support.