Phl smartphone growth fastest in Southeast Asia

1 out of 4 Filipinos now owns a smartphone

MANILA, Philippines -  The Philippines is now considered as the fastest-growing market for smartphones in Southeast Asia, with a staggering 326 percent increase in smartphone sales over the last 12 months.

According to Singapore-based research firm GfK, the country recorded the highest jump in smartphone market share among its neighboring countries in the region, growing from nine to 24 percent.

The growth in the country was significantly higher than the 78 percent growth posted in Southeast Asia’s seven major markets, namely the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

“Feature phones still reign as the more prevalent mobile phone type used by consumers in the region’s emerging markets,” GfK digital technology account director Gerard Tan said in a statement. “However, smartphone adoption is escalating at a rapid pace.”

In July this year, GfK reported that one of four Filipinos own a smartphone, driven by the increasing affordability of smartphone devices across the country.

A separate GfK report revealed that Filipino consumers bought five times as many smartphones in the first five months of this year compared to a year ago, bringing smartphone sales to almost 1.7 million units as of May this year.

Low-end smartphones

“With major manufacturers announcing their intentions to launch low-end smartphones priced below $100, smartphones will be within the reach of an even larger pool of consumers and the market is expected to grow even faster when these models are made widely available,” Tan said.

In a separate report by research firm IHS, smartphones are expected to rise to account for the majority of global cellphone shipments in 2013, two years earlier than previously predicted. 

IHS revealed that smartphones would become the dominant mobile devices in terms of unit shipments, where smartphone shipments in 2013 are forecast to account for 54 percent of the total cellphone market. The year 2013 will mark the first time that smartphones will make up more than half of all cellphone shipments.

Riding the growing smartphone trend in the country, Globe Telecom offers the widest range of smartphones bundled with its innovative postpaid plans.

For as low as Plan 299, subscribers can already get the latest Android devices such as the Huawei Y100 or Samsung Champ Deluxe Duo for free, complete with a consumable postpaid plan for calls, text messaging, and mobile Internet.

The telco carries a complete suite of smartphone devices offered across its postpaid plans, available for free or at a minimum cashout payable for 24 to 30 months.

Globe partnership

“Globe has maintained a strong partnership with some of the world’s leading device manufacturers, empowering us to bring the latest smartphones to the country under our flagship postpaid plans,” said Martha Sazon, head of Globe Postpaid.

“Within the fourth quarter of this year, we are firing up the country’s first-ever mobile Long Term Evolution (LTE) network which will provide LTE-capable smartphones with blazing Internet speeds as well as better quality voice and SMS experience,” Sazon said.

Just recently, Globe became the first Philippine telco to offer the revolutionary Nano-SIMs in its Globe Stores. The Nano-SIMs are new generation subscriber identity module (SIM) cards for the latest generation of smartphones running on the most modern mobile network technologies.

The Nano-SIM measures 12.3 millimeters wide, 8.8 millimeters long and 0.67 millimeters thick, or about 40 percent smaller than the Micro-SIM.

The Globe Nano-SIM is free for new and existing postpaid subscribers while new prepaid subscribers can avail themselves of the Nano-SIM for only P40.

Globe has solidified its leadership in the postpaid segment after its postpaid subscriber base has grown by 76 percent within the last two years.

In the last 12 months, Globe Postpaid has already added close to 348,000 new subscribers, bringing total subscriber count to 1.6 million, a 28 percent increase.