The Philippines’ consumer spending on smartphones this year is expected to post a flat or marginal growth of 2 percent compared to the pre-pandemic level in 2019, according to International Data Corp. (IDC).
“The rising cost of living and higher prices of essential goods and staple foods will continue to put pressure on consumer spending on smartphone. IDC expects 2022 will end with marginal growth of 2 percent, or flat compared to 2019,” Angela Medez, IDC Philippines market analyst, said.
Based on the IDC quarterly mobile phone tracker, smartphone shipments in the Philippines declined by 3 percent in the second quarter this year compared to last year, although it grew 9 percent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), shipping 4.3 million units in the second quarter.
“The number of smartphone shipments below $200 improved significantly QoQ, as players such as Transsion and Cherry Mobile launched new models in this segment, but remained low on an annual basis, due to low demand and supply. The number of shipments for models in the higher price categories also slowed down as consumer spending declined due to economic headwinds,” said Medez.
However, IDC expects a faster migration to smartphone devices with the recent announcement of PLDT Inc.’s plans to shut down its 3G network by 2023.
“We may see a faster migration from feature phones or older smartphones to newer models that support 4G or 5G. Note that the number of 3G cellular subscribers in the Philippines are quite low at less than 5 percent of total subscribers,” said Medez.
Meanwhile, IDC named the top five smartphone companies in the Philippines for the second quarter.
For the sixth consecutive quarter, realme remained in first place with 21.8 percent share of the smartphone market, as its growth rate of 17.5 percent QoQand the introduction of its ninth series managed to drive its growth in the mid-range segment.
realme launched its TikTok store, live shopping session and became the first smartphone brand to do so in the Philippines.
Still in second place, Transsion’s total shipments increased by 152 percent year-on-year (YoY)and 14 percent QoQ, capturing 21 percent of the market during the period
Transsion’s smartphone brand Infinix’s retail expansion plans and marketing campaign catapulted the brand threefold YoY, accounting for nearly 60 percent of Transsion’s shipments. Lower consumer spending has benefited Transsion with an average selling price of only $103, compared to $194 for the overall smartphone market.
Accounting for 14.6 percent of the smartphone market, Xiaomi climbed to the third place, growing by 1.2 percent YoY and 12 percent QoQ. Its Redmi 10C drove the low-end portfolio price,which made up 59.8 percent of its shipments.
Samsung dropped to fourth place, declining 23 percent QoQ and 12 percent YoY, accounting for 11.8 percent of the smartphone market after the A-series fell 23.9 percent compared to previous quarter.
Its 5G smartphone market share grew by 146 percent compared to last year, making up almost 40 percent of Samsung total shipments.
vivo returned to the top five ranking with its hero models, Y15s and Y15a, driving shipments. The launch of several new models at different price points also increased its ultra low-end segment by 335 percent QoQ.
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