According to GfK, smartphone sales in Southeast Asia have reached 42.2 million units, valued at over $11 billion over the last 12 months.
However, despite this growth, two thirds of Southeast Asia’s population cannot access smartphones. Indonesia, with 15.8 million shipped units, leads the smartphone market in the region. However, the smartphone penetration rate in Indonesia stands at 30 per cent as against 146 per cent in Philippines, 140 per cent in Thailand and 118 per cent in Vietnam.
GfK underlines that the growth in the smartphone market in the Southeast Asia region is being driven by sales of smartphones in the $100-$200 range. The increasing popularity of home-grown smartphone brands in the Philippines and Indonesia is further driving the market share for the sub-$100 budget smartphones in the region.
The Southeast Asian smartphone segment is dominated by Android-based devices, which have a market share of 70 per cent. In the region, consumers prefer buying smartphones with a 4.5 inch screen.
