China overtakes South Korea in Vietnam’s foreign content market

Chinese content is watched more frequently than South Korean content in Vietnam, making Chinese content the most popular foreign content among Vietnamese viewers, according to a recent report by Q&Me on Vietnamese video-viewing habits.

Vietnamese spend 1.6 hours a day watching videos

YouTube is the most popular video platform in Vietnam, with 92 percent of respondents saying they watch videos on the platform, according to Q&Me.

Facebook/Facebook Watch ranked second, at 82 percent, followed by TikTok at 74 percent. Traditional television, meanwhile, was used by just 21 percent of respondents.

Smartphones were also the most popular devices for watching videos, with 93 percent of respondents using them. Smart TVs accounted for 49 percent, while laptops accounted for 44 percent.

YouTube and smartphones remained the top choices for watching videos across all three age groups surveyed: 20-29, 30-39 and 40-49.

Vietnamese viewers spend an average of 1.6 hours a day watching videos. Those aged 20-29 spend 1.9 hours a day, compared with 1.3 hours among those aged 40-49.

Vietnamese-language content remains the most watched, at 91 percent.

Among foreign content, Chinese content ranked first at 54 percent, ahead of South Korea at 51 percent, the U.S./Hollywood at 33 percent and Japan at 26 percent.

In terms of genres, comedy was the most popular type of Vietnamese content, at 73 percent. Romance led among South Korean and Chinese content, at 78 percent and 58 percent, respectively, while action was the leading genre for Hollywood content, at 85 percent.

Short Chinese dramas popular among Vietnamese viewers

Chinese content, including short dramas, short-form live-action videos and AI-generated content, has also gained prominence on YouTube in Vietnam.

Several YouTube channels specializing in Chinese short dramas with Vietnamese voice-overs have attracted large numbers of subscribers and views.

While viewers aged 20-29 are generally tech-savvy and accustomed to using smart devices for entertainment, older people who spend much of their time at home, including retirees and those approaching retirement, are also a major audience for short dramas.

Xuan Loan, 54, a Ho Chi Minh City resident, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) online newspaper that she had once watched all 71 episodes of a short drama in one sitting without realizing how much time had passed.

“Each episode is only about five minutes long, but after finishing one, I want to watch another. I watched dozens of episodes throughout the night,” Loan said.