1. VIETNAM
MOBILE ADVERTISING
& APP MONETIZATION REPORT
HOLIDAY SEASON
2018

2. OUTLINE
00 SUMMARY & TAKE-AWAYS Part 01 OVERVIEW
Vietnam Mobile Landscape
Vietnam Mobile Activities During Holidays
Part 02 VIETNAM MOBILE ADS
& MOBILE APP MONETIZATION
Mobile Ads Spending, The Lunar New Year
Mobile Ads Revenue, by devices, ads format,
and countries/territories
Part 03 HIGHLIGHTS
Holiday Seasons, International Markets

3. TAKE-AWAY
 The Lunar New Year Holiday (Vietnamese Tet Holiday) is the most dynamic period of the year for
Vietnamese mobile players, and has a big influence on advertising activities as impressive
amounts of mobile revenue are generated during this time.
 During this longest holiday period in APAC in which people take off around a week from work or
school, massive amounts of mobile ads budgets from advertisers all around the world are spent
in China and Vietnam.
 In Vietnam, 10 days prior to the Tet Holiday is a highly effective period to execute mobile app
user acquisition campaigns.
 During the Lunar New Year Holiday, mobile in-app ads revenues (eCPM) in Vietnam surpassed
those in highly developed mobile markets like Japan and South Korea. During the Lunar New
Year Holiday, mobile in-app ads revenue (eCPM) in Vietnam surpassed those in highly developed
mobile markets like Japan, and South Korea. As many Vietnamese mobile publishers have seen
huge successes in foreign markets such as in the US or Australia, big global holidays and
occasions other than the Lunar New Year should also be taken into consideration.

5. Vietnam Mobile Overview
Vietnam mobile landscape snapshot
Population
95.6M
(2018)
Mobile Users
73%
Smartphone Users
42%
(of total adult population)
(of total population)
Social Mobile Users
50M
Social Mobile Users
52%
(of total adult population)
Source: We are social, Google, Nielsen (2018)

6. Key Public Holidays in Vietnam
The following days have particular influences on mobile usage behavior and mobile ads activities
The Lunar New Year
Reunification Day
& International Labour Day
06 – 14 Feb 2016 26 Jan – 1 Feb 2017 14 – 20 Feb 2018 2 – 10 Feb 2019
New Year’s
Day
Independence
Day
JAN APR MAY SEP
1 30 1 2
• During these public holidays, people
nationwide get days off from work/school.
• The Lunar New Year (Tet Holiday in
Vietnam) is the most important celebration
in Vietnamese, Chinese, and South Korean
cultures.
• The Lunar New Year is the longest holiday
and has the biggest impact on Vietnamese
mobile usage and mobile ads activities.

7. Vietnam App Store Downloads (Lunar New Year)
Daily number of apps downloaded & installed by mobile users in Vietnam
-
500
1,000
1,500
2,000
16-Jan
18-Jan
20-Jan
22-Jan
24-Jan
26-Jan
28-Jan
30-Jan
01-Feb
03-Feb
05-Feb
07-Feb
Tet Holiday
(29th Dec – 5th Jan, Lunar Calendar)
Year2017
0
500
1000
1500
2000
04-Feb
06-Feb
08-Feb
10-Feb
12-Feb
14-Feb
16-Feb
18-Feb
20-Feb
22-Feb
24-Feb
26-Feb
Tet Holiday
(29th Dec – 5th Jan, Lunar Calendar)
Year2018Source: App Annie (Vietnam, 2017 - 2018). Note: Apple Store only
• During the 1 month period around the 2016-2017 Lunar New Year (Tet Holiday) in Vietnam, the number of app store downloads hit
its peak about a week before the holiday officially started.
• During the 7 days of the 2017-2018 Tet Holiday, the 1st day of Lunar New Year witnessed the highest number of app downloads.
However, the following day recorded a huge drop in the number of apps downloaded.

8. Top Downloaded & Installed App Categories, APAC (Lunar New Year)
What categories of app wins APAC mobile users’ interest (2017-2018)?
0% 20% 40% 60%
Cards
Social
& Communication
Casual
Tools & Utility
Productivity
Non-game
Game
Source: AppFlood Network, inMobi (APAC, 2015-2017)
• During the 2017-2018, Lunar
New Year Holiday, the most
common type of app
downloaded by mobile users
in APAC was of Productivity,
accounting for 42% of total
downloads.
• Gaming apps, including, Cards
and Casual, had the highest
influence on users’ app
installation decisions.

9. Source: AppFlood Network, inMobi (APAC, 2015-2017)
Top Popular App Categories, by Time Usage, APAC (Lunar New Year)
During Lunar New Year, APAC mobile users spend most of their time on these types of app:
Music & Video
Entertainment
Arcade
Social &
Communication
Casual
Photography
Tools & Utility
• Mobile users in APAC spend the
most amount of time on
entertainment, music and video
apps during the 2017-2018 Lunar
New Year.
• Arcade (Gaming) and Social &
Communication apps followed
closely coming in at 2nd and 3rd.
• Other notable categories that also
made it to this list of most used
apps were Casual (Gaming),
Photography, and Tools & Utility.Non-game
Game

11. Mobile Ads Spending, by App Categories
How mobile ads budget was spent on the most popular app categories during holidays in APAC
Source: Smaato (APAC, 2017 - 2018). Note: Gaming Ads Budget not included
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
News
Social
Game
Retails F&B Healthcare Media Automative Others
• Generally, during various important public
holidays, Game, Social and News apps were
used very often by mobile users, which made
their inventory valuable to advertisers.
• Retail accounted for the biggest share of
mobile ads within Social, and also the second
biggest share within Game and News apps.
• Healthcare products and services made up
approximately 23% of mobile ads spending
within News apps, but only accounted for a
mere 4% share within the Game apps.

12. Mobile App Ads Spending Comparison, by Devices
Advertising budget distribution & performance differences across operating system
39%
30%
31%
29%
49%
22%
• Advertisers spent more ads budgets targeting Low-end Android devices than High-end Android and iOS devices.
• Around half of the ads impressions were generated from Low-end to mid-range Android devices, leaving a smaller share of 29% and
22% to High-end Android and iOS smartphones, respectively.
Source: Smaato, InMobi (2017 - 2018)
Android
Budget
Android
High-End
iOS
ADS SPENDING ADS IMPRESSION

13. Mobile App Ads Revenue Comparison, by Devices
Indexed eCPM Gap, Android vs. iOS
Source: Smaato (2017 - 2018)
0
40
80
120
160
iOS Android High-
End
Android
Budget
IndexedeCPM
• Despite Android’s domination in ads spending and
impressions, the iOS devices show higher indexed
eCPM.
• iOS produced 30% higher in-app ads revenue
(eCPM) compared to Android.
• If eCPM generated from Low-end Android devices
is referred to as 100X, eCPM on High-end Android
devices and iOS smartphones are 134X and 153X,
respectively.

14. Source: Appodeal, Google, Smaato (2017 - 2018)
Mobile App Ads Revenue Comparison, by Ads Format
Indexed eCPM generated by different ads format
Banner Native Interstitial Rewarded
• Rewarded ranked 1st as the most
profitable ads format, followed by
Interstitial, Native, and Banner ads
formats.
• eCPM generated from Native ads
were nearly double that of the Banner
ads format.
• Ranking 2rd, revenues from the
Interstitial in-app ads format were 3-
times higher than those of Native, and
about 6-times higher than Banner ads
formats.

15. Mobile Ads Request (Lunar New Year)
Daily Mobile App Ads Request changes: Lunar New Year Holidays vs. Average Jan & Feb Days (APAC)
Source: Smaato (APAC, 2017 - 2018)
China
+35%
Vietnam
+32%
Taiwan
+16%
Singapore
+14%
• In APAC, the Lunar New Year is the busiest season of the whole year
for mobile. Millions of people in countries like China, South Korea,
and Vietnam spend lots of time playing games, watching videos,
sharing personal statuses, or sending messages, mostly using
mobile apps.
• Chinese and Vietnamese mobile users, who can enjoy around a
week off from work/school, tend to make up the greatest influential
group for advertisers around the world during this period.
• In China, the daily mobile ads requests for the 7 days off during the
Lunar New Year in 2017 were 35% higher than the average January
and February days.
• Vietnam also experienced an impressive increase of 32% in daily
mobile ad requests during those days, ranking 2nd out of countries
that celebrated the Lunar New Year, followed by Taiwan (+16%) and
Singapore (14%).

16. Mobile App Ads Revenue Comparison, by Countries (Lunar New Year)
Indexed eCPM in some countries celebrating the Lunar New Year
0
200
400
600
800
IndexedeCPM
Source: Appodeal, Smaato (APAC, 2017 - 2018)
China
Singapore
Philippines Vietnam
Malaysia
South Korea
• In APAC, during the Lunar New Year Holiday, China had the highest eCPM (in-app ads revenue). Vietnam ranked 4th, following
Singapore and the Philippines on the list.
• During this holiday, If indexed eCPM in South Korea is referred as 133X, eCPM in Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, and
China are 167X, 222X, 244X, 300X and 656X, respectively.

18. International Holiday Seasons
Mobile Ads & App Monetization
For Vietnamese mobile publishers targeting the international market
 A large number of Vietnamese mobile app publishers have
gone global and have seen great success in foreign countries
over the last 2 years.
 The Lunar New Year Holiday, therefore, might not be the only
occasion to take into consideration for those publishers
looking to go global.
 Let’s take a look at Part 3 to figure out what Vietnamese
publishers are doing well, and take note of the situations in
foreign markets.

19. Top Foreign Markets for Vietnamese Publishers
By Google Play & iOS Downloads
US
11%
Russia
5%
Philippines
3%
Brazil
8%
India
13%
Indonesia
6%
Mexico
5%
Argentina
2%
Turkey
5%
Source: Google (2017)
• In 2017 - 2018, among top international
markets, the highest downloads of apps
made by Vietnamese publishers came
from India and the US, capturing 13%
and 11% of total international
downloads, respectively.
• Other countries in the list of top foreign
markets for Vietnamese mobile apps
with respect to downloads included
Brazil (8%), Indonesia (6%), Russia (5%),
Turkey (5%), Mexico (5%), the
Philippines (3%), and Argentina (2%).

20. Top Foreign Markets for Vietnamese Publishers
By Google Play & iOS Overall Revenue
Source: Google (2017)
US
20%
Australia
5%
Germany
3%
Thailand
3%
South Korea
3%
Japan
3%
• With respect to revenues, the
US was the most profitable
market for Vietnamese mobile
app publishers, accounting for
20% of total international
revenues in 2017 - 2018.
• Australia came second with
5% of the share of foreign
revenues, followed by
Germany, Japan, South Korea,
and Thailand.

21. Cost-Per-Install Statistics (Christmas & New Year)
CPI in some international markets of Vietnamese publishers, celebrating Christmas & New Year
as Official Public Holiday
$0.00
$1.00
$2.00
$3.00
$0.00 $0.50 $1.00 $1.50 $2.00
Source: Chartboost (2018)
US
Brazil
Germany
Australia
Philippines
• The US, Australia, Germany, Brazil, and
Philippines were some of the top foreign
markets for Vietnamese mobile apps in
term of downloads and revenues where
Christmas and New Year are official public
holidays.
• During this holiday period, the US led the
whole world in CPI (with $1.50 on Google
Play and $2.30 on Apple Store).
• The Philippines, a Southeast Asian country,
had quite an impressive CPI on the
Android platform with $1.11, though CPI
on the iOS platform was around just $0.3.

22. Average Mobile App Ads Revenue Comparison
Indexed average eCPM of top foreign markets for Vietnamese publishers
Source: Appodeal, Smaato (APAC, 2017 - 2018)
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
US Australia South Korea Japan
IndexedeCPM
• The US, Australia, South Korea, and
Japan were 4 out of the 6
aforementioned countries that
brought the highest amount of
revenues to app publishers from
Vietnam.
• The US overwhelmingly led the
world in eCPM.
• Among the 3 other countries, if
eCPM in Japan is referred as 100X,
eCPM in South Korea, and Australia
are 166X and 464X, respectively.

23. BONUS: US Mobile Ads Revenue, Unofficial Holidays (1)
Important days that Vietnamese mobile publishers should take into consideration
• The US is a massive international market for app
publishers from Vietnam in terms of both app
downloads and revenues. Thus, knowing what drives
American people’s attention is important for
Vietnamese publishers.
• The Super Bowl, the annual championship game of
the National Football League (NFL) is the biggest
unofficial American national holiday.
• The Super Bowl is a prime time to reach engaged
users and drive conversions. Even while watching the
game, people still share and check statuses, chat
with friends, order food, etc. via their smart devices.
• It was reported that ads spending and eCPM in the
US on Super Bowl Sunday increased by nearly 300%
and 50%, respectively.
Source: Smaato (APAC, 2017)
0
100
200
300
400
Super Bowl (1st Sunday of Feb)
IndexedeCPM

24. BONUS: US Mobile Ads Revenue, Unofficial Holidays (2)
Important days that Vietnamese mobile publishers should take into consideration
100
140
180
IndexedeCPM
• Black Friday, which was on November 24 in 2017, was the highest ad spending day of the year in the US, in which daily average spending
increased by 32%.
• The shopping season also contributed to the increase of average eCPM in the US in November, which was 30% higher than in October.
Source: Smaato (APAC, 2017)
31 Oct (Halloween) 24 Nov (Black Friday)

25. Vietnam Digital Ads Ecosystem

26. Vietnam Mobile Ecosystem

27. Vietnam Programmatic Mobile Ads Ecosystem