Philippines Is Now The Fastest Growing Smartphone Market In Southeast Asia As Per IDC

Filipinos are crazy about the latest technology always, especially when it comes to mobile devices, smartphones in particular. In a recent report by IDC (International Data Corporation), it is stated there that the Philippines is now the "fastest growing smartphone market in Southeast Asia"  for this 2016.

IDC's latest report on PH smartphone growth this 2016

According to the recent press release by IDC's Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, there's a total of 3.5 million smartphones shipped in the Philippines last first quarter of 2016. That's a total of a high 20% year-over-year growth as more and more Filipinos are now adopting from dumb phones to smartphones.

“While many of the more mature smartphone markets of the world already displayed signs of saturation, the Philippines smartphone market continues to enjoy robust growth owing to a relatively low smartphone penetration rate (30% in 2015), active local brand presence, and healthy consumer spending,” says Jerome Dominguez, Market Analyst for Mobile Devices, IDC Philippines.

Another interesting detail coming from that report is majority of Filipinos are getting handsets that are priced below 3.5K Pesos. That's probably one of the main reasons why MyPhone's My28S that's priced under 1K dominated the scene last Q1 of 2016.

However, IDC's data also stated that Global and Chinese vendors are gradually catching up in the budget segment. That includes brands like Samsung, Asus, Oppo, and Huawei getting more and more aggressive with their pricing.

Oppo and Huawei also shown steady growth as they expand channel coverage and by proving high quality products.

“As the Philippines smartphone market matures and shifts from being an acquisition game to a replacement one, consumers are expected to demand more from a smartphone in terms of specs and performance,” says Dominguez. "One sign of the local smartphone market gradually maturing is the move among entry-level players away from less than 1GB random access memory (RAM) toward higher RAM chips. From 44% share in 2015, less-than-1GB-RAM smartphones dropped to 38% last quarter as consumer demand for higher RAM for new mobile applications to run smoothly."

IDC also has some advise to manufacturers to continue on innovating, improve product quality, and after-sales to stay ahead of the game as the mobile brand war is getting more intense by the day. 

“Defect issues and poor after-sales continue to plague the smartphone market. It is only a matter of time before majority of Filipino consumers put more premium on smartphones that are not just easy on the pocket but also offer good value for money,” says Dominguez.

Before the year ends, IDC expects smartphone shipments to grow by 25% and the 5 inch to 5.5 inch screen sized handsets will continue to dominate this year.

Source: IDC