Smartphone sales in key South-east Asian markets exceeded US$16.4b in last year: GfK

SMARTPHONE ownership continues to grow in South-east Asia, with total sales in seven key markets hitting a new high of nearly 120 million units in the past 12 months.

A GfK press statement released on Tuesday said smartphone sales in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia , the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia reached over US$16.4 billion over the period.

The latest findings for the region reflect a spike in smartphone (including phablet) sales by 44 per cent in volume and 24 per cent in value, compared to the same period a year ago.

Gerard Tan, an account director for Digital World at GfK Asia, said: "The big developing countries are the ones fuelling the strong surge in adoption, as many outside the big cities are probably just making the switch from their basic feature phone and acquiring their first smartphone.

"For instance, the markets of Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand have performed extremely well this year, reporting high growth of more than 30 per cent in generated revenue and even more in sales volume."

GfK also pointed out that although international brands dominate the region's smartphone market, Chinese brands are gaining significant presence - garnering a 6 per cent increase in market share over the period.

Said Mr Tan: "Major international brands are losing share to the Chinese brands in price competition due to the low-cost of the latter which are selling their smartphones, including phablets, in the US$50 to US$200 range."