Huawei sees smartphone shift

Thailand’s smartphone market is shifting to middle to high-end products after the low end became saturated with less replacement demand in recent years.

Over the past five months, smartphone sales in the Thai market contracted by single digits in terms of units, said Tossaporn Nisthanon, deputy country director of Huawei Consumer Business Group Thailand.

The market for low-end smartphones (priced below 5,000 baht) has been affected by the market slowdown because most are replacement buyers in Thailand, looking for higher specifications, he said.

Huawei expects overall sales of smartphones in Thailand will tally 13 million units in 2018. Of that figure, high-end smartphones (those priced over 15,000 baht) and mid-priced models (those valued between 5,000 and 15,000 baht) will each control a 40% market share, leaving 20% to low-end products, said the company.

In 2017, Thai smartphone sales saw the high-end segment snag 30%, mid-priced models control 40% of the market and the low-end units take 30%.

“We believe artificial intelligence [AI] will be a key technology driver to stimulate consumers as well as approach of 5G, enticing consumers to upgrade their Android smartphones every 12-13 months,” he said.

Mr Tossaporn said mid-priced smartphones have seen intense competition but still recorded strong growth similar to the high-end segment thanks to trade-in, bundle and instalment purchasing plans offered by mobile operators.

In order to strengthen its market share for mid-range models, Huawei introduced the Nova3 for 16,900 baht and Nova3i at 9,900 baht, both equipped with four front cameras with AI ability and high-performance processors, offering high-end features for a mid-priced unit.

The products are scheduled to launch on Aug 17 this year.

Last year, the company’s Nova2 was a game changer in the mid-priced segment, helping Huawei increase its overall market share from 9.8% in August 2017 to 14.7% in April 2018, ranked second in the market.

The company plans to increase the number of Huawei shops from 100 to 150 by the end of this year.

By the third quarter, Huawei is set to add more product lines that include smart connected devices, smart homes, Internet of Things devices and new innovation tables.

Thailand is one of Huawei’s top 12 investment destinations the past two years as the company aims to become the smartphone market leader here by 2020.

Globally, Huawei smartphone sales are expected to exceed 200 million units this year from 157 million units sold in 2017.

The company sold 100 million smartphones by July this year, compared with October for the same mark in 2017.