While mobile devices have become something regular nowadays, the total sales of smartphones keeps rising up from year to year. The latest data from GfK suggests that the total sales of smartphones in Southeast Asia this year has reached $16.4 Billion (around Rp 198 Trillion) so far, going up 33 percent from last year. The total volume of units sold also goes up by 44 percent annually. In Indonesia, the growth of smartphone sales has risen up to 70% in past twelve months, the highest among other Southeast Asian countries.
There were around 120 million smartphones and phablets (phone tablets) sold in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia, during August 2014.
In Southeast Asia, there are around 345 Chinese brands which offer 58% cheaper price than other international brands. According to Gerard Tan, Gfk Asia’s Account Director for Digital World, low budget smartphones do pretty well in penetrating the market. This is actually the main reason behind other global brands’s incapability in competing with Chinese brands. Mind you, when other international brands offer a single unit at $253 (around Rp 3 million), Chinese brands offer a product with the same specs at only $159 (around Rp 2 million).
“The big developing countries are the ones leveraging the strong urge in adoption as many outside the big cities are probably just making the switch from their basic feature phone and acquiring their first smartphone,” Tan stated.
In term of total sales growth, Indonesia takes the lead with 70%, followed by Vietnam (56%) and Thailand (44%). Meanwhile, when it comes to valuation, Vietnam is placed first with 52% of growth, followed by Indonesia (32%) and Thailand (31%).
Furthermore, Indonesia is the only country in Southeast Asia that has its local brands strictly competing with international brands. In fact, the local brands contribute up to 16% of total volume and 7% of total value to its national market.
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