Smartphone market expected to rebound

MANILA, Philippines — The smartphone market in the Philippines is expected to rebound this year due to increased competition, while the personal computer (PC) market is seen to continue to grow as more individuals go for telecommuting and digital education or learning, according to research firm International Data Corp. (IDC).

Following a seven percent decline in smartphone shipments to 15 million units last year, IDC said it expects a rebound this year as competition among popular brands intensifies.

“We expect smartphone vendors to continue shipping in more phablets and equipping their new models with enticing features, such as dual cameras, thin bezels, and on- device artificial intelligence,” Jensen Ooi, senior market ana- lyst, client devices at IDC said.

Smartphone shipments recorded its first decline in the Philippines last year amid strong competition between top brands like Samsung, OPPO and Vivo which pushed some vendors out of the market.

Tablet shipments, mean- while, continued to go down as it posted a 30 percent year-on- year drop to one million units last year.

IDC attributed the decline in tablet shipments to the lack of practical use cases and cannibalization by smartphones with larger screen sizes.

From a screen size perspective, phablets or those with screen sizes of 5.5” to 7”, ac- counted for about a quarter of smartphone shipments last year.

“As mobile content contin- ues to grow, smartphones have become the primary device for basic productivity and every- day media consumption, and this fuels the need for larger screens and higher specs,” Ooi said.

While slate tablets or those with screen sizes of 7” to 11” used to be popular, these have started to see decreasing sales for its inability to offer the same level of practicality that phablets provide.

IDC said detachable tablets have also not caught on well in the Philippine market as Filipino users prefer laptops which have better overall utility.

As for the PC market, IDC expects growth in the segment to continue in the coming years due to the popularity of gaming and e-sports, and as more individuals adopt a mobile lifestyle by working from home or outside of the office, or go for digital education or learning.

PC shipments to the country reached around two million units last year, up one percent year-on-year.

The Philippines is the only country in Southeast Asia still showing PC adoption growth with the PC market having a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of three percent over the past five years, while its neighbors have seen declining CAGRs of around of -3 to -12 percent.

Sean Paul Agapito, associate market analyst, client devices for IDC Philippines, said that while smartphones have taken a portion of consumer demand in recent years, many individuals still purchase desktop and notebook PCs for heavy workloads and higher-level entertainment.

“As the Philippine economy matures, internet services and coverage improve, and more Filipinos realize the potential of the internet beyond so- cial interaction – such as for education, work, and business among others – demand for PCs in the country is expected to grow even further,” he said.