'Feature phones are dying'

MANILA, Philippines -- As prices of smartphones continue to become cheaper, demands for feature phones are falling by the day, according to local telecommunications firm Globe Telecom.

"The demand for feature phones (2G) is dying very fast and we no longer have feature phones in our postpaid plans," said Peter Bithos, Globe's senior advisor for Consumer Business.

Bithos made the statement during Monday's launching of the Globe Samsung GALAXY S4 suite.

Bithos said Globe's postpaid plan offerings are growing very fast and claimed many of its subscribers are even going for higher value plans. The executive, however, declined to give figures.

"As more and more Filipinos get more confident in their income and prices of smartphones become cheaper, we expect higher demands for postpaid," Bithos said.

Today's trend, based on recent studies, is that smartphones already account for more than 50 percent of phone shipments worldwide.

With the S4's earlier launch in the Philippines compared to other countries, Bithos said Samsung recognizes the Philippines as an important part of the ecosystem.

"At Globe, we don't expect our growth to slip. There's always enough room for growth and the category is growing very fast," Bithos said, adding the S4 is already outselling the Samsung Galaxy S3 at this early on.

Globe bundled the latest Samsung Galaxy device with flexible plans, allowing subscribers to customize their postpaid contracts.

Unlike the traditional 24-month postpaid contracts, Globe is now even allowing subscribers to have the flexibility to choose their contract periods ranging from six months to 30 months.

Globe said the peso value amount can be allocated among combos in the form of call, text, and surfing services, consumable amount, and gadgets.

Globe's Samsung GALAXY S4 offerings are available in White Frost and Black Mist. The S4 has a 5-inch HD Super AMOLED display, Quad-core 1.9 GHz, 13-megapixel rear camera, and other features such as the Air View, Smart Pause, Dual Camera, and Drama Shot.

Bithos added Globe's S4 suite has Internet burst speeds of up to 20 to 42 Mbps with no data cap.

The executive said Globe will continue to support both ecosystems for the iOS and Android.