To evaluate the smartphone market, we shouldn’t look at the major markets only. Of course, the companies are struggling to capture more market share in the top 5 regions. But there are many other areas where they can enter and succeed. In the past few years, many China-based first-tier smartphone makers have been following this strategy. Now, we have to say what they did was right. In this regard, the Philippines is one of those directions they have been working hard on. Today, IDC released a report showing how the Philippines smartphone market performed in the second quarter of 2022.
In the mentioned period, the Philippines smartphone market shipments fell by 3.1% compared to the same period last year, despite a sequential increase of 9.1%. As for numbers, the companies sold 4.3 million units in the second quarter of 2022. However, what’s more interesting, 4 out of five top brands are Chinese brands.
For instance, Realme captured 21.8% of the market, the share of Transsion was 20.5%, and the shares of Xiaomi, Samsung, and VIVO were 14.6%, 11.8%, and 10.7%, respectively.
“The number of smartphone shipments below US$ 200 improved QoQ significantly, as players such as Transsion and Cherry Mobile launched new models in this segment, but remained low on an annual basis, due to low demand and supply. The number of shipments for models in the higher price categories also slowed down as consumer spending declined due to economic headwinds,” said Angela Medez, Market Analyst at IDC Philippines.
Interestingly, Realme held the top spot for the sixth consecutive quarter. Its quarterly growth rate is 17.5%. So there is every reason to think that the Philippines smartphone market is among the basic targets for this company.
Transsion ranked second, with shipments increasing by 152.2% year-on-year and 13.5% month-on-month. Infinix’s retail expansion plans and marketing campaigns have tripled the brand year-over-year, accounting for nearly 60% of Transsion’s shipments. The Transsion model sells for an average of just $103, compared with $194 for the entire smartphone market.
Xiaomi performed quite well too. It ranked third with an increase of 1.2% year-on-year and 12.1% month-on-month. The overall price fell to $167. However, Xiaomi has always been listed as the best-selling smartphone brand on Shopee’s monthly sales list.
Samsung dropped to fourth place, down 23.0% quarter-on-quarter and 12.0% year-on-year. Here, Samsung relies on the A-series, which is down by 23.9% compared to the previous quarter. Compared with last year, Samsung’s 5G smartphone market share increased by 146.2%, accounting for nearly 40% of Samsung’s total shipments.
VIVO returned to the top five, mainly due to a 335.4% month-on-month increase in several new models (<$100) launched at different price points.
“With telecommunications company PLDT recently announcing plans to shut down their 3G network by 2023, we may see a faster migration from feature phones or older smartphones to newer models that support 4G or 5G. Note that the number of 3G cellular subscribers in the Philippines are quite low at less than 5% of total subscribers,” said Medez.
