Sales of smartphones, phablets continue to rise in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Volume of smartphones and phablets sold in the Philippines posted double-digit increases amid the steady increase in sales in Southeast Asia.

In a report, Singapore-based research firm GfK said that smartphones sold in the Philippines reached 6.736 million units over the past 12 months or 22 percent higher compared to the 5.527 million sold in the same period a year ago.

Likewise, GfK said sales of phablets in the Philippines jumped 50 percent from 100,000 units to 150,000 units.

The research firm said the country emerged as the fourth fastest growing market for smartphones and phablets in Southeast Asia.

Aside from the Philippines, GfK reported that smartphone ownership continues on its uptrend as 120 million units over the last 12 months were sold across Southeast Asia including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia.

This represented a 44 percent jump in volume and 24 percent in value compared to the same period a year ago.

“The big developing countries are the ones fuelling the strong surge in adoption as many outside the big cities are probably just making the switch from their basic feature phone and acquiring their first smartphone,” said Gerard Tan, account director for Digital World at GfK Asia.

“For instance, the markets of Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand have performed extremely well this year, reporting high growth of over 30 percent in generated revenue and even more in sales volume,” Tan said.

Indonesia was the fastest in terms of volume growth with 70 percent followed by Vietnam with 56 percent and Thailand with 44 percent. In terms of value growth, Vietnam was number one with 52 percent followed by Indonesia with 32 percent and Thailand with 31 percent.

“A key driver fuelling the strong market performance especially in the developing countries is the introduction of more low-end models by new Chinese manufacturers, making smartphones more affordable and taking competition in the marketplace to an even more intense level. These budget smartphone models have gone down particularly well in the developing markets,” Tan said.

Indonesia is the only market where homegrown brands have continued to grow in popularity, garnering over 16 percent share in volume and 7 percent share in value of the local market.

Meanwhile, Chinese smartphone brands are more prevalent in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam where their respective proportion of consumer spend have reached more than 10 percent of the total market.

“Although international brands dominate the region’s smartphone market, Chinese brands are gaining significant presence. Major international brands are losing shares to the Chinese brands in price competition due to the low-cost of the latter which are selling their smartphones, including phablets, within the $50 to $200 range,” Tan said.

More than 345 Chinese branded smartphones now exist across the region. While an internationally branded smartphone averaged at around $253, a Chinese branded one cost 58 percent lower at $159.

“Competition in the market will further intensify, as Chinese manufacturers are stepping up their activities in more countries, notably Singapore, Philippines and Thailand,” Tan said.

“However, with the much anticipated launch of new models by several international brands, we can expected to witness some fierce competition in  this region; with the eventually winners who will gain from the price wars being the consumers,” he added.