Smartphone addiction in Vietnam through photos

According to findings from the Global Connected Consumer Study 2014 by market research firm TNS, Vietnamese smartphone usage rose from 20 percent in 2013 to 36 percent last year.

TNS surveyed more than 1,000 Vietnamese people over the age of 16 in the first two quarters of 2014 for the research.

The findings showed that one out of three people in Vietnam, or 36 percent of the population of 90 million, owned a smartphone in 2014, nearly double the previous year’s figure.

The strongest growth in Vietnamese smartphone users was recorded among people from 16 to 24 years of age.

While people in this age category only accounted for 27 percent of the total number of Vietnamese smartphone users in 2013, the figure more than doubled to 58 percent in 2014.

Many people, especially young people, admitted that they cannot stand the lack of their beloved phones whenever and wherever they are.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper captures some proof of people with smartphone addiction syndrome in Vietnam.

It seems that the real world is left behind them and their one-and-only world on the touch screen.

L. D. Thuong (L), 24, and N. T. Anh, 24, stare at their smartphones while hanging out in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Anh hardly leaves her phone alone. She admitted that she is addicted to smartphones and has not found any way to cure herself. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A woman and her son play games on their phones while waiting for a train. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Passengers wait with their eyes fastened to their screens at the railway station in the central city of Nha Trang. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Van, 69, and his wife Huong, 58, are seen waiting for a train at a Nha Trang train station. Huong has two phones and usually spends four hours per day reading news and playing games. She also uses Facebook. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Young people use smartphones to take pictures and then upload them on social networks while waiting at a cinema. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Passengers and their smartphones at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A young woman uses Facebook and chats with her friends on the sidewalk of Trang Tien Street in Hanoi. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Two youngsters play games and use Facebook on a train. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Hoang (L), 15, plays games on a smartphone with his friend at the Hon Khoi salt factory’s dormitory in Ninh Hoa Commune in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa. Hoang has had a smartphone for one year and often spends three hours per day playing games and using Facebook. The boy feels uncomfortable if he has to part from his phone. Photo: Tuoi Tre