PH smartphone market shrinks – IDC
ACCORDING to International Data Corp.’s (IDC) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone shipments in the Philippines declined by 8.0 percent quarter on quarter (QoQ) and 6.8 percent annually, bringing in 3.9 million units in the third quarter of 2022.
“The Philippine smartphone market quickly shrank in the third quarter as inflation accelerated, further aggravated by recent typhoons, hurting both consumers and vendors,” said Angela Medez, senior market analyst at IDC Philippines. “Vendors took a more conservative approach by clearing inventories, maintaining prices of existing models, and sustaining momentum by bringing in more affordable smartphones.”
The ultra low-end (below P5,900) price band grew 20.7 percent QoQ and 21.3 percent year on year in the third quarter due to aggressive pushes by vendors such as realme with its Narzo series, as well as Infinix with its Smart and Hot Play series, all aimed at targeting the entry-level market as consumers sought cheaper options.
“The last quarter of the year is the peak sales period for smartphones, buoyed by holiday buying,” said Medez. “But as inflation is expected to linger and peak toward the end of year, we anticipate an annual shipment decline toward the end of 2022 as vendors would lower targets for the upcoming holiday season by controlling inventories and increasing prices for newer models to counter the depreciating currency.”
PH’s Top 5
IDC also released the Top 5 smartphone makers in the Philippines for the third quarter of 2022.
Realme tops the list with 23.4 percent of the market share, while Transsion Holdings, which manufactures infinix, comes in at far second with 15.8 percent.
Samsung now lags at third place with 15.6 percent, almost tied with OPPO with 15.5 percent placing at number 4.
Vivo takes the fifth spot at 13.2 percent.
Despite its constant popularity, the iPhone shares the other bracket with the rest of other smartphone makers, totaling 16.6 percent market share. No Philippine market share number for Apple was indicated in the report.
Out of the Top 5 smartphone makers, all four brand names — realme, infinix, vivo and OPPO — are based in China, while Samsung is based in South Korea.