The Philippine smartphone market declined 16.7 percent quarter-on-quarter and 11 percent year-on-year, to 3.5 million units in the first quarter of 2023, the International Data Corp. said Wednesday.
It said market conditions remained difficult as core inflation continued to rise through March 2023.
“The last time shipments hit below 3.5 million records was back in the first quarter of 2020 when the pandemic just started and the first lockdown was implemented,” said IDC Philippines client devices senior market analyst Angela Medez.
According to IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone, Chinese mobile phone brands dominated the Philippine mobile market landing in the top five of the popularity list.
Transsion climbed to the top spot, ending realme’s two-year streak as top the ranking smartphone company in the Philippines. It accounted for 19.5 percent of the mobile phone market in the Philippines.
Transsion’s sub-brand, Tecno, grew 33.7 percent, year-on-year, and 107.8 percent, quarter-on-quarter, contributing more than 50 percent to the company’s total shipments, surpassing Infinix’s share.
Tecno’s rise is attributable to its aggressive campaigns offering new models at different price points, with its Spark Go 2023 model leading its growth, as well as introducing its Phantom series, initiating the brand’s entry in the $500+ band.
“Though it seems that the market has finally bottomed out and is on its road to recovery with inflation finally slowing down, IDC anticipates shipments to remain flat in 2023 as vendors will remain cautious with inflation still above comfortable levels,” Medez said.
Trailing at 18.7 percent market share is realme, OPPO at 15.5 percent, Vivo at 13.1 percent, Xiaomi at 11.9 percent, while other mobile phone brands have been lumped into the remaining 21.3 percent of the market.
IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker monitors the market for detailed and timely information on the total mobile phone and smartphone markets for handset vendors, software developers, service providers, component suppliers, and investors. It provides insightful analysis through quarterly market share data by region.
